Review of the Film The Golden Compass (PG).
Advanced warning: this review contains some plot spoilers.
The new film The Golden Compass has stirred up much controversy in Christian circles, mainly because of the apparently heretical series of books by Philip Pullman, the first novel of which this film is an adaptation of. It should be noted that I have not read these books, all though I have researched their general content. In this review I am not going to touch on the religious debate surrounding the story as in my opinion these issues have not translated from page to screen, and are therefore quite irrelevant.
To start with the film’s good points then, much of the acting is excellent; in particular the performances of Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Eva Green stand out. Disappointingly though they are all underused, barely scraping about twenty-five minutes of screen time between them of the films near two hour running time. But it has to be said that in their own little parts they each stand-out, giving a sincere face to characters who otherwise it would be difficult to take seriously.
The special effects are consistently brilliant, highlights being the well rendered talking polar bears, some sweeping scenery of icy landscapes and highly imaginative cityscapes. Combined with an above average music score for a Hollywood film, there are moments that should not fail to send freezing shivers of cinematic magic down even the most cynical of spines.
Unfortunately that is already the end of the good points, and so now we move on to the more numerous and complex bad points.
Firstly, the young leading actress Dakota Blue Richards really isn’t up to the task in this, her first ever screen role. She frequently stumbles on difficult dialogue, and the part definitely required a more skilled and experienced performer who could portray the main character more naturally, and stimulate more empathy for her. While Richards isn’t dreadful, she simply isn’t good enough for a film like this.
In relation to the story, to me the film doesn’t have much of one at all. There is something about some mysterious ‘dust’, parallel universes and a quest to find some lost children… but in the end the film doesn’t make it very easy to figure out. The purpose and importance of the object to which the title of the film refers is itself rather vague and difficult to understand, and when a film cannot even make sense of it’s own title then you know that it’s in trouble! Chris Weitz, who both wrote the adapted screenplay for and directed the film really has missed a golden opportunity to make a terrific, epic cinematic experience, if all of the accolades that the books have garnered are to be believed. He has made a film that is a baffling mix of cinematic magic and meaningless content… like putting icing on a stale cake.
As the film was specifically billed by New Line Cinema as the successor to The Lord of the Rings series, I am going to compare the two. One of Weitz’s main short fallings in the quality of this film is that he failed to instil a sense of epic scale. Peter Jackson did a fine job of this in his films, and it really does make a huge difference for a story of this kind. The Golden Compass has too much switching between locations with little sense of the journey between, and too many rotating aerial shots that are blatantly trying to emulate those in The Lord of the Rings, which combine to create something that feels strangely small and insignificant. The budget of this film was almost two thirds of that of Jackson’s entire trilogy, which just seems criminal! It’s performance at the box office has been rather mediocre, and because of that there is doubt as to whether the sequels will go ahead at all.
All religious kafuffle aside, this film is quite a let down. It is up to you though to decide whether or not it’s worth seeing, and if you are a fan of the books then you’ll probably want to find out for yourself what it’s like. But bring some tissues. There there… the next one might be better, if it even gets made.
Rating : **
Written by,
.Peter.D.Marsay.
Originally completed: 06/01/08.
1 comment:
Hahahaha, wow, you tore that one out of the sky :P I don't feel like going to see it anymore. The way you described how things became "strangely small and insignificant" was very well put - I could picture exactly what you meant even having not seen the movie. Well done, well done.
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