Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, and Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen) in THE GOLDEN COMPASS (2007).
© New Line Cinema
Mania Grade: B-
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliott
Writer: Chris Weitz, Philip Pullman
Director: Chris Weitz
Distributor: New Line Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Director Commentary, eleven behind-the-scenes featurettes
Buy it now!
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliott
Writer: Chris Weitz, Philip Pullman
Director: Chris Weitz
Distributor: New Line Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Director Commentary, eleven behind-the-scenes featurettes
Buy it now!
DVD Review: THE GOLDEN COMPASS
By: Tim JansonDate: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
After striking gold…much, much gold…with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, executives at New Line set about trying to find another fantasy epic to adapt, choosing Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy. Now, when I’ve seen Pullman’s books in bookstores, they are normally in the children’s/teen fiction section. I’ve not read the books but based on this film, I’d say these are definitely not children’s books. First, they’re quite long, The Golden Compass checks in at over 400 pages. It’s also significantly darker than say, the Harry Potter films, at least until Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came along.
The Golden Compass is set in a marvelously imagined alternate Europe, in no discernable time period. It has an art deco meets Jules Verne look in the design of its machines and vehicles. The look is quite stunning. Visually, The Golden Compass is one of the best-looking films of the past year from the special effects to the costuming. In this world, souls live outside of the body in the form of animal familiars called daemons, but not evil daemons. What the animal feels, the person feels…if the person is killed, the daemon dies in a puff of sparkles.
Plot-wise is where The Golden Compass struggles. At about an hour and 45 minutes of actual story, it isn’t long enough. You get the feeling that you are rushing from one event to the next as the director wanted to squeeze in as much of the story as he could. We end up with a lot of characters that are underdeveloped and a bit of a confusing plot. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is the niece of Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), an important man although we’re never really told why. An authoritarian group known as the Magisterium controls Europe. They are seemingly a shadowy, sinister group although again, they get very little in the way of development. Magisterium sounds kind of magic-like and its leaders dress in wizard-like garments and yet we don’t learn anything about them at all other than their opposition to Lord Asriel’s quest to the North in search of parallel worlds and matter known as “dust.” Dust is evidently some kind of magical particle whose existence is denied by the Magisterium. We’re left to fend for ourselves on the subject of dust. Apparently Director Chris Weitz made the assumption that only people who read the book would come to see the film.
The more substantive plot concerns Lyra’s quest to rescue her friend from the Gobblers. The Gobblers, led by Mrs. Coulter (Kidman) have been kidnapping children and using a machine to separate the children from their daemons. She’s aided in her quest by a group of Gyptians (think sea-faring Gypsies), a cowboy airship pilot named Scoresby (Sam Elliot), Sarafina the witch (Eva Green), and an exiled polar bear Lorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen). Once this group hits the northern lands the pace of the film picks up. There are several battles including Lorek’s duel with the King of the armored polar bears. Lyra also possesses the Alethiometer, the “golden compass” of the film’s title. A magical device that only she can read that can see the truth and future.
Dakota Blue Richards is one of the best things going for The Golden Compass. This was not only her first film, but her first acting role of any kind outside of school plays. She was chosen for the role from thousands of young English girls who came out for open auditions. She’s a beautiful young girl but not the wholesome goody-goody you might think. She has an edge that is uncommon in an actor that is so young and inexperienced. All of the actors turned in good performances although Craig actually plays a minor role, all things considered.
The main problem with the film is the screenplay. Too much is left unexplained. Millions more people have read The Lord of the Rings than these books and yet Peter Jackson still gave viewers a ten-minute prologue at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring in order to make it more viewer-friendly to those who had not read the books.
The Golden Compass had an $180 million dollar budget but made a disappointing $70 million in the U.S. The film did bring in another $300 million worldwide but at this time, it’s unclear whether the other films will be made. As of March of this year, Producer Deborah Forte was optimistic that the films would be made. We will have to wait and see…
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