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December 28, 2007
The Golden Compass
This is a review of the movie, not the book, though as my title isn't "Northern Lights", UK based people could probably work that one out. Unusually for me, I think the Americans were right to rename this for their market. The Golden Compass makes a lot more sense, and fits into the naming schema of the other two volumes (The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass).
There is a lot to commend this film. The effects are marvellous, with more CGI animals morphing from rats to birds or fighting each other than you can shake a stick at. And there are armoured fighting polar bears of course. The pace never lets up and the tension is high throughout so it never gets boring. The acting is on the whole very good, though Lyra's accent is all over the place, and Mrs Coulter whispers menacingly a bit too much for my liking. Nicole Kidman is perfect as Coulter though.
I won't reveal much of the story, except to say it's a fairly standard fantasy quest, but with some serious religious overtones that you can in fact choose to completely ignore, which the kids will do. A likable pre-teen girl (Lyra) travels to the frozen north to search for her friend, and other children who have gone missing, presumed kidnapped. This takes place in a parallel world to ours, which is similar in many ways, but subtly different. One main difference, is that everyone's soul lives outside their body in the form of an animal, called a daemon. These daemons are a marvellous creation, giving the story much of it's narrative, and the film a lot of its eye candy.
Fun for all the family.
Posted by se71 at December 28, 2007 02:45 PM
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