Movie Review

I understand that "The Golden Compass" has premiered in the Anglo countries, but Kathy and I went to see it last night after a dinner on the town. Both of us were curious about all the controversy stirred up by the fact that the author, an avowed atheist, wrote the book that the movie is based upon as a sort of response to C.S. Lewis' "Narnia" fantasy series. That the connection between the film's Inquisition-like "magisteriam" and the Catholic Church is obvious needs no reiteration here, and I'm not a proper judge of Christian history or theology anyway. I'll leave the debate on that aspect to the pseudo-intellectuals out there. Kathy and I are primarily libertarian in nature, so we chose to look at the movie as a comment on liberty and the eternal fight all individuals have with bureaucratic authority.

Frankly, the film has about everything I would've put into a fantasy saga: Talking bears, cowboys, archers, mad scientists, even a Winchester '73 rifle. The flow of the story is a roller coaster of emotions, fairly fast and the action sequences make up for the holes left by the special effects in several aspects. To quote from Fareed Ben-Youssef in his review on dailyprincetonian.com :

"Director Chris Weitz has a keen eye for creating massive set pieces that evoke both the Roman and Victorian eras. Unfortunately, the technology driving the visuals cannot support the director's ambitious vision. The animal effects, so central in a film where each character has an animal counterpart, are well-animated but look second-rate. Even more distracting, small details appear absent from the final product. For instance, while much of the film is set in the Arctic north, the film never shows frozen breath coming out of anyone's mouth. These mistakes make the actors seem utterly disconnected from the world their characters supposedly inhabit."

The one actor seemingly left "out in the cold" is Daniel Craig. I was disappointed by both his out-of-character performance and what little point he had in the film. If the next movie in the series makes it to the screen, both he and the writers will have some real back-filling to do in making up for what small contribution "Lord Asriel" has made so far.

The archers in the audience will not be disappointed, however. Both witches and pirates wield their bows with gusto, along with swords, tomahawks and knives. What few firearms appear are classics and rare pieces, making it fun for we arms enthusiasts to guess what might appear next out of the museum.

All in all, and leaving aside the minor details, you can't help but sympathize with the snippy Lyra, be appalled by Mrs. Coulter, and cheer on the grand combatants against tyranny as they meet the foe on its own frozen turf. It ain't "Lord Of The Rings", but "The Golden Compass" is a cracking good adventure story. Let the factions waste ink and webspace on the supposed religious connotations, and just enjoy the show.

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"For I have drawn Judah taut and applied [My hand] to Ephraim as to a bow." Zech. 9:13
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joe croatia · Master Bowman

i've went to see the film few days ago for same reason and i cant say nothing bad about it. i dont know whats all the fuss about it but i liked the film. just another fantasy film and we will all agree that there will be plenty more.

joe

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A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new!!

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