The Golden Compass
By Karen WilsonAverage User Rating:
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence
Theatrical Release: December 7, 2007
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Runtime: 114 minutes
Plot Synopsis: In a world similar to ours, but with some unique and magical differences, lives a young girl name Lyra who thinks she’s an orphan. In her parallel universe, everyone’s inner essence or soul is manifested in an animal figure that lives alongside the person. In children, this daemon can change shape depending on his/her mood and has a mysterious connection to a substance referred to as “dust,” which all of the adults are trying to learn more about and may lead to war. Lyra and her friends get caught up in this epic struggle as they travel north to save her kidnapped playmate Roger and her explorer uncle Asriel.
Sex/Nudity: No romance or sexual passion between the film’s characters.
Violence/Gore: The film contains a number of quite scary sequences, particularly related to danger for the character’s daemons—Mrs. Coulter’s golden monkey daemon attacks Lyra’s daemon Pan, Lyra is almost separated from Pan by a sinister machine, Iorek Byrnison brutally fights the Bear King, the Tartars’ wolf daemons lunge for a group of children, Asriel is attacked on the ice.
Profanity: None.
Will Kids Like It?
With its themes of world domination and epic conflict, this film is much too violent and complex for preschool age children and probably for many sensitive grade-schoolers. After all, even the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman are recommended for young adults. But for tweens and teens, especially ones who dove head first into the fantasy worlds of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, The Golden Compass’s battles, daemons, talking bears and elaborate cosmology will be heavenly.
Will Parents Like It?
While the political themes and the action adventure scenes will keep parents engaged during the screening, the bewilderingly mess of plot points, the long list of characters and their corresponding daemons may send adult viewers back to Pullman's books afterwards to fill in the blanks.
Kaboose Review: In the last few years, the holiday season hasn't truly arrived until a complex, CGI-intensive film based on a beloved children’s fantasy series has been released. This year we leave behind the wonderful worlds of Middle Earth, Narnia and Hogwarts for The Golden Compass’s multiple universes invented by British author Philip Pullman in the trilogy His Dark Materials.
First released in the U.S. in 1995, Pullman’s books have garnered a loyal international fan base and prestigious adult literature awards like the Whitbread Book of the Year in 2001 for book three, The Amber Spyglass. However amidst these accolades, Pullman’s writing has also received criticism from religious groups for tweaking creation story themes and an anti-authority point of view. As a former middle school teacher, Pullman prides himself on his ability to challenge his young readers to question accepted norms and to provoke animated discussion.
However in this two hour movie version of the first book, writer and director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) hardly has time to even allude to the books' controversial themes. There are just too many baroque character names, twisty plot points and eye-popping computer animation to cram into the running time. Trying to hold all of those competing elements together is a strong performance by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards. A first time actress from England discovered in a massive casting search, Richards makes for a believable Lyra; a spunky tomboy who fearlessly scrambles over the rooftops of Oxford, can command respect from armored polar bears and begins to suspect not all adults have her best interests at heart.
Lyra learns the truth from her alethiometer, the titular golden compass, which uses a dial and symbols to answer questions. But Lyra must keep the golden compass secret, because the Magisterium (an organization that stands for the church in the books, but seems to be merely a shady government in the film) and its agent, the beautiful Mrs. Coulter (an icy Nicole Kidman) want to get their hands on it. Kidman’s portrayal of Mrs. Coulter’s seductive glamour and power hungry ruthlessness makes for a convincing villain. Her monkey daemon may also give a few young viewers nightmares.
Fortunately the persecuted Lyra also has some great allies like the fearsome, yet endearing polar bear Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Lord of the Rings' Gandalf, Sir Ian McKellen). He’s the kind of gruff and noble sidekick that will have audiences cheering. All of the movie’s character names and intersecting story lines may have parents running home to Wikipedia for explanation but the cliffhanger ending will have you anxiously awaiting the next installment (or going back to reread the books).
Directed by: Chris Weitz
Cast: Dakota Blue Richards (Lyra Belacqua), Nicole Kidman (Mrs. Coulter), Daniel Craig (Lord Asriel), Pantalaimon (Freddie Highmore), Iorek Byrnison (Ian McKellen), Eva Green (Serafina Pekkala), Sam Elliott (Lee Scoresby), Kristin Scott Thomas (Stelmaria)
Karen Wilson is a freelance writer living in New York City.
Star Rating
3 Stars