slickstu

With it's blatant anti-religion stance, it's no surprise that The Golden Compass failed to ignite the box office in the Christian stronghold of the United States, for although it's not indicated explicitly, the similarity of the pietistic Magisteria authority with Christianity's dark past is unmistakable. Of course the theme of religious oppression and it's incumbent suppression of "heretical" scientific advancement and free thought is still relevant today albeit to a subtler degree as it applies to the modern Christian institution. However such themes are still highly indicative of modern day militant Islamic societies and the incumbent Shariah law which thrives in those parts of the world. To have such a thesis in the construct of a fantasy film is a breath of fresh air; it's the anti-Narnia.

There is so much that is good about this film; its production design is of an exceptional quality (the Spy Fly is a beautiful piece of design), it's photographed in rich, sumptuous pastel colours, and the premise of the story is an intriguing one. Like The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe before it, it doesn't pull it's punches on the drama front, a brave move for a children's fantasy. The various inhabitants of this world are startlingly human too: Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is a complex mischievous child, you'll want to hug her one minute and slap her the next; the gypsy-like Gyptians harbour a sharp vindictive streak; and there's a general air of glorified warmongering pervading the film reminiscent of The Lord Of The Rings.

Each character's meticulously CGIed daemon (read soul) manifests itself as an animal which reflects the personality, nature and conscious of it's host. For example Fra Pavel's (Simon McBurney) insidious cleric has a creepy bug, the honourable Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) has a courageous jaguar, and villainous Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman) has a sneaky and vicious marmoset. Meanwhile the emotionally volatile Lyra has a daemon which is, by turns, a bird, a stoat or a cat depending upon her mood. This is an ingenious and highly effective visual tool for expressing the inner feelings of each character and probably made life a little easier for the actors. Not that the actors needed it as all their performances are exemplary, particularly Dakota Blue Richards who carries the film effortlessly and is the latest in a now long line of prodigy child actors.

There are some problems, however. Some of the characters appear horribly under-utilised, particularly Eva Green's Serafina Pekkala and Daniel Craig's Lord Asriel whose characters appear to have been severely pruned through a process of successive script drafts. Some plot turns are a little perplexing, for instance why would an academic fraternity entrust the compass of the title (the most valuable pagan artifact in the world) to young Lyra before delivering her into the clutches of the villain? Such action seems foolhardy to say the least. And the "revelation" of Lyra's parentage rings decidedly hollow.

Clearly there's a lot of detail missing from this film, and it could certainly benefit from a longer running time, but if nothing else the sense of awe created inspires the viewer to read the novel and by this alone The Golden Compass is a major accomplishment.

8.5 out of 10

Trance

Wellcome back Slick. Nice review as usual. Seen the movie with the kids and to my surprise, they said this was the best movie they have ever seen while I was still thinking about the gaps in the storyline and considering if it was worthwhile reading the books to better understand anti-organised religion aspects of it...

I agree with the rating. 8.5/10

aa23

For that reason alone, I think I'll go see it.
Seriously, it looked okay in the ads, so I would have seen it eventually anyway.

jobbidiar

hmm i was tempted to go see this a week or so ago, and due to the non religion stance maybe i should of

slickstu

I haven't read the books but I understand that they take an even harder atheist line than the film.

Trance

The movie I read, made to overlook as much as possible to anti religion message of the books for not to piss potential church/mosque/sinagogue/temple goer audience appearently. The Magisterium was presented like a political/govermental institution rather then a religious organisation IMO.

DND

8- 10 the ending could of been abit better then a hanger