Review: The Golden Compass

In an alternate version/dimension of our world, in which every human is paired with a living embodiment of their soul (called a daemon/demon) and daily life is controlled by a pseudo-religious authoritarian group known as The Magisterium (headed by the imperious Derek Jacobi), which frowns upon notions of, um...individual thought. Young orphan Lyra Belacqua (debutante Dakota Blue Richards, yes it’s a real name, though no less ridiculous than her character’s name) lives among scholars at Jordan College, where her explorer Uncle Asriel (Daniel Craig) has returned to seek funding for an expedition to the Arctic to investigate the appearance of Dust, otherworldly energy apparently from other dimensions that gives off ‘free will’. The Magisterium, represented by the glamorous, but treacherous agent Ms. Coulter (Nicole Kidman- A conservative representative named Coulter? Nope, nothing to say about that!), want to keep the mysteries of Dust secret (lest it be known that there are alternate universes without churches and souls...er...Magisteriums and daemons!), and attempt to prevent Asriel from finding out the truth...by any means necessary. Meanwhile, children are disappearing all over the place, kidnapped for nefarious purposes by Ms. Coulter and her ‘gobblers’, including Lyra’s best friend Roger (Ben Walker). Ms. Coulter, and her golden monkey daemon (not a euphemism!) attempt to befriend young Lyra, with designs on adding her to the kidnapped collection of kiddies (nice alliteration, eh?), before she is able to narrowly escape her evil clutches. Lyra, is one of the few people able to use the titular golden compass (handed to her by the head of the University), a device that allows its user to divine the truth (so long as they know how to read the bloody thing!). Which is a jolly handy thing, considering she’ll need it (the only one left in existence) to work out just what the Sam (Elliott) hell is going on here, what with the metaphysical dusts, Magisteriums, daemons, and so forth. On her journey of discovery (and rescue) she encounters gruff aeronautical cowboy Lee Scoursby (the inimitable and aforementioned Sam Elliott) and his rabbit daemon (voice by Kathy Bates), a gruff armoured fighting polar bear (voiced by the ubiquitous Sir Ian McKellen), Witch Queen Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green), a Gypsy-like race of people called Gyptians, and several other assorted characters who will aide young Lyra on her journey.

 

Based on the first book in a trilogy by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials) that I am unfamiliar with, this 2007 Chris Weitz (“American Pie”, “About a Boy”) film (Weitz also scripted the adaptation of Pullman’s novel) looked at first glance to me, to be a “Narnia” rip-off. And given my lack of fondness for Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman’s recent disappointing output, and news that Christopher Lee’s cameo would be a matter of mere seconds...I just wasn’t excited about seeing this one. Well, aside from finding out what religious zealots were complaining about, the idea of an atheistic fantasy movie did pique my interest a bit (It’s seen as the atheist equivalent of C.S. Lewis’ “Narnia” series of books, of which I am a huge fan. Go figure!). I’m a bit of a fantasy buff (not as much as say, 15-20 years ago), and an agnostic atheist (though less judgemental than say, 15-20 years ago), but this all looked rather ‘same old, same old’, and generally pandering to the “Harry Potter” demographic with any old fantasy story for young ‘uns (think “The Seeker” and “Bridge to Terabithia”). I was wrong. Not astronomically, but wrong is wrong, and I rather enjoyed this film, for the most part.

 

First and foremost I have to say that whilst I’ve been critical of the child actors and characters in the “Narnia” films (the one thing keeping me from enjoying the films as much as the books), I have no such qualms in this film. Richards is an unexpected delight, a lively and genuinely impressive actress. Perhaps it is because the kids in this film are indeed just normal kids, they’re not Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, or snooty, Private School wannabe-Merlin twerps. She’s no Elijah Wood, and Lyra is no Frodo Baggins (though the Golden Compass sure does remind one of the One Ring, without the nasty, tricksy side-effects), but she’s one of the few adolescent protagonists of late to arouse any interest from me. As for the adults, we have another surprise in that Nicole Kidman is superb here, more beautiful than she has ever looked, and has a sort of combination of inner ice-cold vamp and outer cute-warmth that is spot-on for her deceptive character. I’d have cast Catherine Zeta-Jones myself, but I’d cast Catherine Zeta-Jones in just about anything (Besides, the author himself approved of Kidman). But the scene-stealers are definitely old-pro Elliott (seemingly riffing on his Marlboro Man character from “The Big Lebowski”) and the fighting bear voiced by McKellen (who is one of those actors I really wouldn’t mind seeing typecast in fantasy films. He’s perfect for the genre). I’m glad the bear’s on our side, he ain’t someone I’d like to have against me. McShane is pretty terrific as the gruff Bear King Ragnar (a fine Viking name if ever there was one) too. The polar bears are without question the biggest visual marvels in the film, aside from the beautifully rendered Arctic scenery.

 

Not everything about this film is impressive. The late, great Christopher Lee’s role here is severely limited (just a line or two), and definitely looks to me to have been cut beyond belief. A shame because, although Jacobi is always a welcome presence (as the film’s Emperor Palpatine, to Nicole Kidman’s Darth Vader or White Witch), Lee could’ve easily played the role himself. And whilst the polar bears do indeed look impressive (and the CGI wolves aren’t too bad, either), other creatures are not so well-rendered. The CGI orange monkey companion of Kidman’s, is an embarrassment, the orange fur is way too bright and fake-looking. And whilst I praise Kidman, I cannot do the same for her “The Invasion” co-star Craig, who once again proves he is utterly incapable of arousing any interest or audience sympathy in a good-guy role. The guy is a dour bore, but thankfully not in many scenes.

 

As for the story’s supposed atheistic leanings, I’d suggest on the evidence seen on-screen that it has been completely watered down (Were studio execs shit-scared or something?). I barely noticed anything directly atheistic about the film at all (I’ve heard the books are a bit more overt, but just because an author is an atheist, doesn’t necessarily mean his output will reflect that). And, on a minor note, I’m not sold on calling these creatures ‘demons’, couldn’t they just call them animals? Demons just sounds too ‘evil’ a term to use for what is basically a ‘soul’. But it has to be said that the story, and its concepts, just as an observation, come across as very intriguing and intelligent for what is essentially literature for juveniles. Youngsters are called upon to do far more work here than in say “Harry Potter” or the “Narnia” series. Unfortunately, with this film, the viewer has to put in much more effort here, no matter their age. The story does not seem to me to be all that confusing, so much as the plot. That is to say Weitz makes it a bit of tough work for the viewer not so much in what it is about, but how it is about it. The laying out of events, characters, and concepts is somewhat rushed and choppy. If ever a film demanded a three-hour running time, perhaps it is this one, because the concepts and story were not at all uninteresting to me (despite my initial reservations from the trailer). As is, at just under two hours, it’s all a bit hurried, unwieldy and ungainly, never quite enthralling you as much as you would like. And yet, it is precisely the film’s brisk pace that I consider to be one of its better qualities in a sense- certainly it moves at a better clip than say “Prince Caspian”.

 

Overall this film could’ve been better if a stronger filmmaker were involved, but as it stands the film is surprisingly enjoyable for a film that doesn’t stop long enough to explain anything much about its complicated back-story and mythology. It’s a shame that the film was a box-office dud, because I would like to see more of this series.

 

Rating: B-