December 4, 2007 by Craig
Laura and I and our friend Marco saw an advance screening of The Golden Compass last saturday. Overall, it was pretty good. I pretty much as agree with everything Marco says in his analysis so I’ll refer you to his post rather than reiterate most of it… but I would like to add a few points of my own.
Over the past few years I’ve been looking for fantasy movies that were more adult-oriented (ie: deeper than a typical kids movie) and done well (ie: not the mess that was Dungeons & Dragons). Lord of the Rings is the poster child for this, but there’s few other candidates. The Harry Potter movies have always left me yearning for something more (disclaimer: I haven’t read any of the books nor yet seen Order of the Phoenix). Narnia was too childish (any fantasy movie featuring Santa Claus is pretty much disqualified despite its other merits). Note that I don’t consider these to be “bad” movies (their box office and fan base obviously prove me wrong) but they’re fundamentally not what I’m looking for.
Golden Compass suffers from the same affliction: it’s focused on being a movie for kids. It’s not a matter of source material: LOTR (but much moreso The Hobbit) was considered a children’s story but was adapted into a movie that fully engaged me. Golden Compass is a step better than Harry Potter and two better than Narnia; it’s helped along by some more adult themes:
- Questioning of authority
- Abuse of power
- Conspiracy to retain power / crush dissent
- Destruction of the soul / will
The storytelling itself is fine, although definitely rushed. Had they given the movie another hour (it’s currently less than 2) I think they could have fleshed it out more. Again, this points towards a child focus: kids won’t sit still for 3 hours, so the moviemakers made sacrifices that cater to a different audience. However, it’s never cringe-inducing; it may not be polished but there are no sharp edges. Also: if the anti-religious message is toned down for the movie, then I’d be impressed by that in the book; it’s far more blatant than the counter-themes in Narnia.
The CGI is great, mostly because it’s enabling yet not intrusive. There’s a jaw-dropping (snicker) fight between two very large polar bears, and they look & move exactly like I would expect bears would in real life (at least when they’re not anthropomorphosizing). The landscapes are beautiful & believable as well. The moviemakers fortunately did not try to add in any rendered- human characters; Beowulf tried this and failed (though it did better than previous movies). Instead, GC got some big-name actors to put in good-to-great performances (the child star did quite well).
Verdict: it’s worth a watch, especially if you’re taking a 12-year-old out for a show.