MovieMantz Review: 'The Golden Compass'

A Less Than 'Golden' Adventure

by Scott Mantz

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That doesn't bode well for New Line Cinema, which is pulling out all the stops to make "His Dark Materials" its next big-budget franchise after another trilogy — "The Lord of the Rings." That epic series grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, and the final film — 2003's "The Return of the King" — swept the Oscars, winning all 11 awards for which it was nominated. But despite its grand scale and the presence of "Rings" vets Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen, the odds are slim that "The Golden Compass" will follow along in that same direction.

Since I couldn't make heads or tails out of the plot, I had to rely on the next best thing to Cliff's Notes — the film's Production Notes. "The Golden Compass" takes place in a parallel world where every person is connected to an animal spirit (called a daemon) and humanity is ruled by the domineering Magisterium. When Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) embarks on a trip to the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious element that could be linked to the existence of other worlds, the Magisterium is threatened and will do whatever it takes to stop him.

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At the center of it all is Asriel's 12-year-old niece, Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards), who lives an extraordinary life as a ward of Jordan College. When her best friend Roger (Ben Walker) goes missing along with many other children, she embarks on a dangerous adventure to the frozen north to rescue him. Her best chance to get there lies with Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman), a wealthy socialite and world traveler who takes Lyra under her wing. But Coulter has her own agenda — to gain custody of the last remaining Golden Compass, which has the ability to reveal the truth and give unlimited power to anyone who possesses it.

With a myriad of plot points involving polar bears, a great hall gathering and the mystical object featured in its title, "The Golden Compass" is practically begging to be compared to "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings." On a visual level, it holds up quite nicely, thanks to its lavish production values and noteworthy action sequences. But otherwise the story falls short, since the screenplay — adapted by director Chris Weitz ("About a Boy") — feels rushed along and is jam-packed with talky exposition that prevents it from realizing its full potential as a thrilling, engaging, exciting adventure.

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That exposition also gets in the way of developing fully realized characters. As it is, only newcomer Dakota Blue Richards manages to stand out as Lyra, while Nicole Kidman is somewhat imposing as the evil Mrs. Coulter. But Daniel Craig barely registers, since he virtually disappears for a good chunk of the story. Sam Elliott has an amusing part, even though it feels like he's starring in a completely different movie, while Freddie Highmore and Ian McKellen provide the voices of Lyra's daemon and the great warrior bear, respectively.

And that brings us to the controversy. Up to this point, religious groups have been urging moviegoers to boycott "The Golden Compass," fearing that kids who see it will give up on religion (author Philip Pullman is a noted atheist). Those threats will only give the movie more publicity, but that hardly matters anyway, since the story is so hard to follow. With all the setup going on, "The Golden Compass" feels more like a prologue to a bigger, better film — and hopefully, that movie will find its way into theaters somewhere down the line.

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