Browse these Citysearch® Categories for products & services in your area.
Year Released 2007
Duration 113
Sponsored Links
The Golden Compass
Editorial ReviewMovie Summary
Rated:
PG
Director:
Chris Weitz
Starring:
Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott
Editorial Review
Let's address one thing from the off: The Golden Compass is not a new Lord Of The Rings. Not unless you think that the secret to the success of Peter Jackson's trilogy was a very long walk and a selection of characters named after remote villages in Uzbekistan.Where Jackson wrestled a literary doorstop, packed with ideas both profound and banal into an elegant and heart-thumping series, Chris Weitz has started his own would-be threesome with a graceless, distracted plod through one of the most interesting novels of the past 15 years. The key theme of the failings of organised religion is given only mumbling lip-service, and Pullman's flood of magical creativity is turned into a heavy mist of confusing silliness.
Tom Stoppard's script must have been written backwards in Swahili to be rejected for Weitz's version, which is humourlessly faithful but without the book's feeling. If you have favourite moments then rest assured they are here – but they will only match the fantasies in your head if you are a mildly depressed tax accountant.
It's a crying shame to see such a cast ensemble go to waste in what amounts to a film of cameos. As Lord Asriel, Daniel Craig has little to do other than scowl famously. Newcomer Richards does a decent job with a role largely played opposite CG animals, but struggles with lumpy dialogue. It's only Kidman as the villainous Mrs Coulter and Sam Elliott as captain Lee Scoresby who leave an impression, most meaningfully when saying nothing.
A final caution: if you've read the book and remember the cliffhanger ending, be warned that the movie has been bizarrely and unsatisfyingly chopped off at a point when things are looking like they might get a bit exci…
Olly Richards, December 2007
Tell us what you think
3 comments
Mark Bagshaw: This is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long, long time. I haven't read the books so I can only judge on the movie itself but this is just a load of American Hollywood crap. No decent plot, no character development - nothing hangs together. Give it a big miss. (05 January 2008)
freshie: Not as bad as some of the reviews would have made you think. As the books are not as widely known, as lets say Harry Potter, the concept behind the book series probably needed to have more explanation at the start of the movie. Indeed the end of the movie is a little flat because you feel it has been cut off mid capter. However it is sumptuously shot (the polar bears are just amazing) and Nicole Kidman makes for a delightfully evil mother. My kids loved it. (02 January 2008)
Karen Frewin: A disappointing romp that promises much but doesn't deliver. The intriguing idea of co-existing multiple realities, humans with their attached daemons, and an obvious quest,accompanied by great special effects and a stellar cast, found me settling in for a good yarn. The cute factor of the daemons was not enough to support the weakness and prediciability of this cliched story. In short, it gets boring, and we're already set up for a sequel - ho hum. Unless you're desperate, give it a miss. (01 January 2008)
Request removal of a reviewGet Citysearch's ®:
Newsletter