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THE GOLDEN COMPASS

I don’t know what to make of The Golden Compass.
I haven’t read the books, so I can’t compare the movie to the source material.
(Yet…I did now but the big book which contains all three novels…)
So I have to look at it, for now, as a stand alone movie.

There’s been a lot of talk about The Golden Compass.
As of this writing, I’ve heard it’s pro-Atheist, it’s anti-Religion, it’s very expensive, and that it’s a disappointment at the box office.
Well, I guess I have to say that it was a bit of a disappointing movie in that…I wanted more. It was a pretty short movie, so maybe if it was longer, it could have been deeper or more fulfilling?
That said, I think I overall enjoyed the movie, and will see the next one, and there better be a next one, because this one really doesn’t work as a stand alone film.

Dakota Blue Richards, who looks eerily like a young Alicia Witt, plays Lyra, an orphan who finds herself at the center of a huge nefarious plot to control children and their Daemons, which are pronounced demons in the movie, but whatever. I truly have no understanding on what Daemons are exactly or why they are, but they seem to be animal spirits of sorts that are connected to people…sort of like their souls / life essence. I hope the book really explains this better to me!
Anyway, Lyra’s daemon is voiced by Freddie Highmore

Nicole Kidman plays the head of The Magisterium, and she and her daemon, a monkey, are not to be trifled with. She shows interest in Lyra, and takes her with her to the North, where a secret location exists to experiment on children. I don’t think that’s a spoiler, but just in case, I’ll stop there.

In the North, Lyra meets Sam Elliot, playing Sam Elliot. Not really, but you know what I mean. He helps her, and directs her to the coolest polar bear in cinematic history, Iorek Byrnison, as voiced by Sir Ian McKellan. The best and coolest stuff in the movie happens involves him, and at one point the character voiced by Ian McShane.
Hmmm, interesting…both are “Ian Mc…”…

The Golden Compass was directed by Chris Weitz of American Pie fame, and is based on a book by Phillip Pullman. Like I said, I will soon start reading the original book, and will hopefully have a better idea of the world this movie paints.
In and of itself, Weitz did a nice job with direction, but I just wish the film was a little deeper and more fulfilling.
Still, it’s pretty to look at, and interesting enough to hold your attention, so that’s good enough for me.

B

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