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The Golden Compass (2007) - Directed by Chris Weitz
"Dust was here before the witches of the air, the Gyptians of the water, and the bears of the ice."
I have NOT read the His Dark Materials series, I had NO interest in this movie, and I have a problem with typical fantasy stories. So many of them are so samey. I remember being dragged to the theaters to watch Seventh Son. My mom wanted to watch it just because it had a CGI dragon. Ugh. I wish I had a tasteful mom. Anyway, I needed something to watch one day and I was in a mood for a bad movie. Mom turned on The Golden Compass. I know it had better reviews than Seventh Son, so I decided to sit through it.
Based on a book series, The Golden Compass follows a little girl who lived in a world ruled by politicians who ban the very mention of the spectral energy known as Dust, which apparently has magic powers. The little girl, Lyra, livers with an animal spirit like everyone else in their world. But children are being kidnapped and she gets dragged away on an adventure through her world to uncover the conspiracy with the help of a magical object known as the Golden Compass which can find anything in the universe.
OK, the political message of banning certain philosophies came on too strong and made the movie predictable. While it was fun to look at because of good action and special effects, it wasn't very story-based. The movie spent more time exploring the absolute major characters. The cast was very well chosen. I greatly enjoyed Ian McKellen voicing the polar bear, and Nicole Kidman pulled off another classic role. I especially enjoyed Sam Elliott playing a Texan adventurer. This guy was born for westerns of any kind, even though he wasn't even in a western and he still pulled it off. However, the wasn't enough of Eva Green, Liam Neeson or Christopher Lee. Seriously, an all-star cast and half of them barely do anything. This is because the movie's spending more time building up a sequel which never happened.
The Golden Compass has some very obvious strengths, but it made the mistake of assuming it couldn't be enjoyable on its own and didn't try. That with the knowledge of the nerfed religious undertones, it's pretty obvious that this movie didn't do the book any justice, which is ironically made obvious to even those who haven't read the books. But the movie is definitely palatable. It's fun while it lasts because of its strengths.
"Dust was here before the witches of the air, the Gyptians of the water, and the bears of the ice."
I have NOT read the His Dark Materials series, I had NO interest in this movie, and I have a problem with typical fantasy stories. So many of them are so samey. I remember being dragged to the theaters to watch Seventh Son. My mom wanted to watch it just because it had a CGI dragon. Ugh. I wish I had a tasteful mom. Anyway, I needed something to watch one day and I was in a mood for a bad movie. Mom turned on The Golden Compass. I know it had better reviews than Seventh Son, so I decided to sit through it.
Based on a book series, The Golden Compass follows a little girl who lived in a world ruled by politicians who ban the very mention of the spectral energy known as Dust, which apparently has magic powers. The little girl, Lyra, livers with an animal spirit like everyone else in their world. But children are being kidnapped and she gets dragged away on an adventure through her world to uncover the conspiracy with the help of a magical object known as the Golden Compass which can find anything in the universe.
OK, the political message of banning certain philosophies came on too strong and made the movie predictable. While it was fun to look at because of good action and special effects, it wasn't very story-based. The movie spent more time exploring the absolute major characters. The cast was very well chosen. I greatly enjoyed Ian McKellen voicing the polar bear, and Nicole Kidman pulled off another classic role. I especially enjoyed Sam Elliott playing a Texan adventurer. This guy was born for westerns of any kind, even though he wasn't even in a western and he still pulled it off. However, the wasn't enough of Eva Green, Liam Neeson or Christopher Lee. Seriously, an all-star cast and half of them barely do anything. This is because the movie's spending more time building up a sequel which never happened.
The Golden Compass has some very obvious strengths, but it made the mistake of assuming it couldn't be enjoyable on its own and didn't try. That with the knowledge of the nerfed religious undertones, it's pretty obvious that this movie didn't do the book any justice, which is ironically made obvious to even those who haven't read the books. But the movie is definitely palatable. It's fun while it lasts because of its strengths.