Hollywood is trying so hard to create the next Lord Of The Rings trilogy. We've seen plenty of imitators over the years, including Eragon, Bridge To Terabithia, and the first installment of The Chronicles Of Narnia, which happened to be the only one out of the three that found success. The second entry in the Narnia series, Prince Caspian, comes out next summer.
Until next summer though, we have The Golden Compass invading theatres today, just in time for kids to force their parents to take them to see it again and again over the holiday break. I'll tell you right now, this ain't got nothin' on the Rings films. But it's not a complete waste of time either.
PLOT
In an alternate world, things are pretty much as they are here, except that in this world, there are flying witches and talking animals. Actually, it's nothing like our world. I'm having difficulty describing the plot for Compass, so the simplest way for me to lay out the plot would be to say that there is a young girl named Lyra that is trying to find her kidnapped friend. She's assisted by an armored polar bear and Sam Elliott's mustache. Oh, and dust is a pretty big deal.
ACTING
Dakota Blue Richards has a lot of spunk as Lyra. She carries the film well and doesn't bore you like the kids of Narnia. Daniel Craig plays Lord Asriel, Lyra's uncle who is obsessed with dust! He has a few scenes but nothing to write home about. He's just a cool dude. Nicole Kidman shows up with all of her elegance, as usual, to play Marisa Coulter. Lyra looks up to Coulter but soon realizes that there is more to this red-haired beauty than meets the eye. Kidman is a great actress and she's just gorgeous. She has that classic look to her, like Audrey Hepburn. Sam Elliott plays Lee, and you know what to expect. You'll get that Southern drawl and thick mustache that only Elliott can give you. Super-sexy Eva Green shows up as the witch Serafina. She's pretty good here and oh-so-nice to look at.
Now, as far the talking animals go, they're called "daemons" in this film. Daemons are part of everyone's soul. Every man, woman, and child has their own daemon. Here are a few of the voices behind these animals:
Pantalaimon - Freddie Highmore
Iorek - Ian McKellan
Ragnar - Ian McShane
Stelmaria - Kristin Scott Thomas
Hester - Kathy Bates
WRITING & DIRECTING
Chris Weitz adapted Philip Pullman's novel into the film we see now. I know religious folk are calling The Golden Compass out because Pullman is an Athiest and the book supposedly promotes Atheism. Weitz has stated that he stripped all of that stuff out of his screenplay so everyone can enjoy the film. So let's get to the screenplay.
The story was a bit muddled for me for a good chunk of the movie. There was all this talk of dust and Gobblers and all this shit. I wasn't bored, because the theatre I saw Compass in was exceptionally loud. I definitely felt that the story was lacking something.
This is the first story of a trilogy of books, by the way, so the ending of this film leaves it open for a sequel. Just letting you know so that when the credits roll, you don't throw your hands up and yell, "What the fuck?!"
As for the special effects, The Golden Compass has tons of eye-candy for lovers of CGI. All of the demons in the films are completely computer-generated, even when they're not talking, and you quickly forget they're not real. The stand-out sequence of the film involves some polar bear-on-polar bear action. No, not that kind. Weirdo. I'm talking about a brawl! It's pretty kick ass!
Weitz has come a long way since directing American Pie. I believe he is more than capable to handle big budget flicks like Compass in the future, but he needs some assistance when it comes to writing. On smaller films, like Pie or the underrated In Good Company, Weitz seems a little more comfortable with the dialogue and such. As his first event movie, Compass is not a complete failure. It just needed a little more magic in the storytelling to make it seem like the film was not relying on the magic of CGI.
Budgeted at a reported $180 million, The Golden Compass better pray it makes bank quickly, because just around the corner a little film called I Am Legend will be coming out. We all know that no one gets in Will Smith's way, otherwise he'd have to say, "Oh hell naw!"
Overall Review: ** stars
Best Line:
McKellan: Yes, that's all.
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