The Golden Compass

Red Eye Rundown
Utterly stunning, a masterful piece of cinema.
Why not try Lord of the Rings trilogy, Narnia, Harry Potter
 
User Rating
Your rating: None Average: 7 (1 vote)
 
Trailer
 
Sponsors
 
Login
Please Login or Register
Request New Password

Your content region is not currently set, click a flag to set or leave as default (both):
Set to |

 
Review

The Golden Compass is the talk of the town amongst any group of self-respecting movie fans this Christmas. Adapted from the Carnegie Medal-winning novel by Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass is the first in the ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy. It tells the fascinating tale of a young girl, Lyra Belaqua, who must leave her home in Oxford and embark on a journey of truly awesome proportions where the fate of not only her own world, but also those parallel to hers, are hanging in the balance. What starts as a fairly atypical children’s adventure soon evolves into a complex, and frequently dark, philosophical epic.

I was really drawn by the trailers for TGC, which for me usually means I leave the cinema despondent and £7 lighter than I was before I went in. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have been proven wrong tonight. There is simply no other way of putting it; under the careful direction of Chris Weitz, Pullman’s world of fantasy and make-believe has been carried over to the big screen with jaw dropping splendour.

Overall, the cast are either good, or they excel. Daniel Craig (Asriel) is stern and understated, exactly as required, whilst Kidman (Mrs Coulter) is convincingly cryptic and captures the manipulative nasty but nice spirit. The real star of the show is the young lead, Dakota Blue Richards (Lyra), which is an enormous relief after the wooden and uninspiring performances you may witness in the first two Potter films and The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.

Dakota is precocious, confident, brave and humble all in perfect measure. Just as well really, as the success or failure of the film rests squarely on her tiny shoulders. She is in nearly every scene, and her character is required to interact regularly with CGI creations like her Daemon - Pan (Freddie Highmore) and the polar bear Lorek Byrnison, who is masterfully voiced by Ian McKellen.

It was also a pleasure to see Sam Elliot feature amongst the cast, as Scoresby - the smooth talking aviator with an irrepressible twinkle in his eye.

The special effects and CGI really lifts the bar. The Daemons are beautifully rendered, as are the polar bears. I can’t wait to see the battle between Iorek and Ragnar Sturlusson in full HD glory, with the white fur coats swirling realistically in a wind that doesn’t even exist. The wide, snowy expanses of the North and the glinting spires and buildings of Oxford are also superbly formed, to the extent that I found myself wondering where the Narnia crew went wrong. There is little doubt in my mind, this is how CGI should be done.

Character and plot development is strong, with the first 45 minutes heavily devoted to bringing those who are unaware of Pullman’s book up to speed on dust, the Daemons and the relevance of the Compass. Some might argue the storyline is laid out a little too boldly. However I didn’t feel it detracted from the film and is obviously done to account for younger viewers. The result of this early investment is a solid empathy for the characters when the final confrontation comes at the end of the film. I felt really attached to the characters in much the same way as I do for the great characters of the LOTR trilogy. You care who lives and who dies, and that is always the sign of a good movie.

So, does The Golden Compass earn a Red Eye Classic stamp, or am I going to say something to detract from a fairly glowing review, you might well ask. Well, no, it doesn’t get a badge. For much the same reason that I wouldn’t have given The Fellowship one before seeing The Two Towers and Return of the King. Filming has already started on The Subtle Knife, and I sincerely hope that they get it as right as they got this. My only complaint, and it is only slight, is that at times the pace of the film felt a little rushed. I got little sense of the magnitude of everyones journey to the North, as well as the scenes on the Gyptian ship and Lyra and Iorek’s trek. The filming felt too brief. Weitz has produced a 2 hour gem here, although he could have afforded another 15 minutes without losing the audience.

A couple of closing remarks: I have not yet read the books, though I intend to do so very soon. I am told by friends that the end of the film is a little surprising, as it cuts off the final three chapters of the novel where some significant events occur. A quick spot of research confirms that these will form the opening parts of the sequel. Moving and swapping scenes in this manner certainly worked for Peter Jackson, so it seems fair to suggest prudence before passing judgement.

A second point, there has been some media hype surrounding the atheist overtones of the novel. This underlying theme has been heavily sanitized for the screen adaptation, although I do hope it is allowed to emerge during the next two films as it seems to me misguided to strip out a major philosophical element of the trilogy in order to appease the Conservative Christian movement.

All in all, I cannot recommend The Golden Compass enough. An outstanding achievement in direction, visuals, performance and storytelling. I wait with bated breath for the next installment.

 
People
 
Genre Information
 
Production Information
Produced in: USA / UK
Language: English
 
Release Information
Released: 2007
UK cinema: 05/12/2007
US cinema: 07/12/2007