I wasn’t too excited to see this movie; after all, I read the book. It is true that I was considerably small when I read Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, the first installment of Lyra Belacqua’s otherworldly quest to unite the universe. As a young reader, I wasn’t much enthused with Lyra’s story; nor was I captivated by and drawn into her universe. For the most part, I can remember leaving the pages of the novel confounded, frustrated, and annoyed. But, many years later, I’d faith that New Line Cinema’s adaptation of the (somewhat) beloved book would fuse beautifully with my much more mature perspective and show me something to love. Yet this cinematic version of The Golden Compass has no direction and all, and the story flounders on the screen perhaps even more miserably than it does on the page.
Here’s the gist: Young Lyra lives in a parallel world where human beings are incomplete without the union between their bodies and their souls, the later living in the body of a companionate animal. Repressed by a magistrate intent on squelching rebellion, many dissenting groups from low class gyptians to top notch scholars are trying to surpass the authority and capture the essence of a mysterious ‘dust’, particles which contain the power to converge the worlds of the universe.
This film marks the debut of Dakota Blue Richards, cast as leading lady Lyra. I was pretty certain this young gal would turn out to be the horrifying fantasy movie double to sit/com cinema’s Dakota Fanning; I was pleasantly surprised to see that Richards packs in all of Fanning’s talent without any of her sickening sass. It’s a shame though that the young would-be star shows up first in a flick like The Golden Compass instead of something sweet like I Am Sam. If little girl Richards doesn’t make it big, I’ll hold her introduction to Hollywood through the The Golden Compass to blame.
There is something very twisted in story of The Golden Compass, not a thought provoking, please-unravel-me type of twisted, but a hopelessly frustrating illogical type of twisted that constitutes only a giant mess. The major events of the movie, Lyra’s abduction, her encounters with various clans of conspirators, her polar bear pal’s ‘jaw dropping’ fight scene with a demon seeking king, are almost completely unprompted by prior plot points. Most of the action in the movie comes from and seems to lead to nowhere. There is hardly anything consistent in the world of the golden compass. For instance, the story focuses on the forcible separation between inquisitive children and their animal souls. In the book, children who are subjected to this procedure die as a consequence of loosing the life of their souls, yet in the movie the children survive with seemingly little more consequence than looking a bit distraught.
The problem here is that New Line tried to tweak an already sketchy story so that it attracts a child-like crowd. But this isn’t a children’s movie. The story’s scenario is much too conceptual and its action is much too violent. The little girl sitting behind me in the theater cried at intervals during the show; her parents had to pry her from beneath her sweater coat when it was time for them to leave at the movie’s end. And while it should be said that parents should escort their children out of The Golden Compass the moment their son or daughter has an anxiety attack, let this be an advisory: Mom, Dad, maybe it’s best not to go see The Golden Compass at all.
Liz Licorish
For comments email: LizFlix@ElitesTV.com
