The Golden Compass

Film

Fantasy films

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Time Out says

Wed Nov 28 2007

Bland, bloodless and bereft of magic, New Line’s corporate sanitisation of Philip Pullman’s exciting, provocative fantasy novel, ‘The Northern Lights’, strips the book of its humanity and soul.

Just as the church-like Magisterium and the glacially glamorous Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman) are rumoured to be severing pre-pubescent children from their animal daemons (an external ‘familiar’ representing their inner soul), so this clinical dissection of Pullman’s vividly imagined parallel world cuts away the warm flesh and leaves only the bare bones.

The skeleton of the plot remains, albeit in a compacted, confusing form.

While zeppelins float above an alternate Oxford’s dreaming spires, wilful 12-year-old orphan Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) swears to rescue her kitchen-boy friend Roger from his child-cutter abductors. Lyra’s epic quest takes her to the frozen wastes of the Arctic Circle. Here, with the help of Lord Faa’s good-hearted Gyptians, ferocious ice bear Iorek Byrnison (badly voiced by a miscast Ian McKellen), cowboy aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), witch queen Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) and a precious truth-telling instrument called an alethiometer, she confronts her enemies: the corrupt king of the ice bears, Ragnar Sturlusson (Ian McShane), the cruel Mrs Coulter (Kidman typecast as an ice queen) and hordes of Tartar henchmen.

What’s missing is any sense of Lyra’s exhilarating but perplexing journey from childhood innocence to incipient adulthood. In the book, we see everything from Lyra’s point-of-view, sharing her sense of wonder, her doubts and fears, her love for her shape-shifting daemon Pantalaimon. But like the Northern Lights themselves, glimpsed only briefly as a projected image, all this is missing. As with the scary Mrs Coulter, the film should possess, 'a scent of grown-upness, something disturbing and enticing at the same time.'

Instead, it’s a synthetic, flavourless product that lacks the subversive tang of Pullman’s source novel.

Author: Nigel Floyd

99+

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Wed Dec 5 2007

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(100 ratings)

I've not seen this film but it is brilliant!

Scott Wed Dec 5 2007
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What gets me is how they changed the name - its no longer 'Northern Lights' but now 'The Golden Compass'. I know its a family film so has to have a name appealing to children but if they were going to change the name they could have at least called the film 'The Alethiometer', as it is NOT a golden compass! In America the book was released called 'The Golden Compass' instead of 'Northern Lights', but this film starts off in Oxford, England and NOT America so the least they could have done was kept the British name for British fans!

Rebecca Wed Dec 5 2007
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this film is fantasric u have got to see the adventure

charlie Tue Dec 4 2007
Rated as: 5/5
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Um, hello, the people talking about the film HAVE seen it - at previews. Duh.

Agox Mon Dec 3 2007
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Gotta disagree with the Time Out review. I was actually surprised how much subversiveness was left in, and how much of the grimness in parts of the novel were included. The handling of ratless Billy was softened up a bit, but the impact of intercission was still powerful in the movie. Kidman's Coulter was pitch-perfect, and I really don't see how her portrayal can be criticized unless you just didn't like the character in the first place. The handling of the bears was excellent as well - they were not cute and cuddly, as I was afraid they might be made to be. Iorek's armor looked just as rusty and battered as it did in the book. Too bad the details about whether or not bears can be tricked had to be sacrificed. Interested to see if there will be an extended-cut DVD available, it could certainly use some fleshing out here and there. Certainly not a perfect movie, but I'm not sure how it could have been improved without making it considerably longer.

ArtDecoDalek Sun Dec 2 2007
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Just saw it at the sneak peak. Not at the level of Lord of the Rings, but an excellent film nonetheless. I agree that the film waters down Pullman's novel somewhat, but the film is still fantastic relative to most of the drivel you see on the big screen. BTW, my son is a great fan of Pullman, and he loved it.

Byron Sun Dec 2 2007
Rated as: 5/5
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I agree with Time Out's review: director Weitz has done nothing to preserve the subversive quality of Pullman's prose. Instead, it is a commercial Christmas family film; as always when adapting children's novels.

Alberto Fri Nov 30 2007
Rated as: 2/5
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Why are people who haven't seen the film reviewing it? Everyone's a critic these days, despite lacking the qualifications...

Andrew Emery Thu Nov 29 2007
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The movie looked pretty in a "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" sort of way, but the characters were hollow and it never pulled me in. I give it a C-.

David Thu Nov 29 2007
Rated as: 2/5
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Considering that a book has ample time and ability to describe love, innocence, maturity, doubts, fears and wonder etc. it will be unsurprising if the film fails to convey these emotions in the time allowed; it being a film, body language is a much more subtle means of communication and if the reviewer feels as if Mrs Coulter is 'scary' and 'Kidman typecast as an ice queen', I hope this in turn means that the acting is good. I'd like to think anyone going to see this film will be aware that, as it is an adaptation, there will be things missing.

Pelena Thu Nov 29 2007
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The Golden Compass

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