Scan and Pan
Friday, December 07, 2007
The Golden Compass
On an alternate Earth where people's souls take on animal shapes known as daemons and where the powerful Magisterium reigns supreme, young Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is entrusted with a golden compass that allows her to see the truth of things. After her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) leaves on a journey, she's taken into the care of the sinister Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). When Lyra learns that Mrs. Coulter is behind the mysterious disappearances of children, including her best friend Roger (Ben Walker), she flees with her daemon Pan (voice of Freddie Highmore) and begins an epic adventure to rescue the children and find her uncle. Along the way she gathers crucial allies in the ice bear Iorek Byrnison (voice of Ian McKellen), the Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and the witch queen Serafina (Eva Green).
Screenwriter/director Chris Weitz (best known as one of the producers of the American Pie films, but also the co-director of Down to Earth and About a Boy) succeeds on the whole in bringing Pullman's novel to the screen. The film is mostly faithful to the plot of the novel, and even though Pullman's philosophical views are watered down, the story still works as a more broadly anti-authoritarian tale, even if it has become more about spectacle than ideas. Weitz is up to the task of visualizing the story, ably blending live action and visual effects while displaying a competent handling of the action scenes. It's an enjoyable film, but one that's not without flaws.
What makes it merely good rather than great is that a certain degree of character development, plot development, and pacing has been sacrificed on the altar of creating a film that's less than two hours in running time, but it's hard to say if that's the fault of Weitz or of New Line Cinema. Even an extra thirty minutes would have improved the pacing and allowed for more development of the key characters and themes, potentially making it a better film. A decision was also made to end the film at a slightly earlier point in the story, leaving the novel's final chapters to be used as a prologue for a sequel if one is produced. Combined with the relatively short running time, the ending leaves one feeling as if there should have been a little more to it.
Cinematographer Henry Braham (Nanny McPhee, Flyboys) contributes gleaming lighting that stylishly conjures up the appropriate mood for an epic fantasy, while production designer Dennis Gassner (Field of Dreams, Waterworld) and costume designer Ruth Myers (Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Addams Family) create an amazing world to feast your eyes on. The visual effects, produced by several effects houses, are skillfully rendered, and convincingly portray such creatures of the fantastic as daemons and talking bears. If a fantasy film can be judged solely on how well the story's world is brought to life, then The Golden Compass is a smashing success. Alexandre Desplat (Syriana, The Queen) provides a solid musical score, although the song during the end credits written and performed by Kate Bush is surprisingly unmemorable.
Despite having limited acting experience, Richards makes her film debut with a spirited performance as Lyra. Kidman plays against type as a villainess, but her icy delivery really captures the character of Mrs. Coulter. Craig is only in a few scenes as Lord Asriel, but he makes the most of them with his usual magnetism. Although Weitz wanted to use a lesser known actor to voice Iorek, the rich voice of McKellen really adds another dimension to the character. Elliott is just perfect as Scoresby. While they may have only limited screen time as leading members of the Magisterium, does it get any better than Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee hatching evil plots together? I think not.
The rest of the cast is effective, including Green as Serafina, Walker as Roger, Ian McShane as the voice of King Ragnar of the ice bears, Highmore as Pan's voice, Jim Carter as Gyptian leader John Faa, Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram, Clare Higgins as Ma Costa, Charlie Rowe as Billy Costa, Kristin Scott Thomas as the voice of Asriel's dameon, Kathy Bates as the voice of Scoresby's rabbit daemon Hester, and Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel.
While The Golden Compass may not be on the same level as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it's still a good fantasy film that offers much entertainment value while generally remaining faithful to its literary source.
[4 out of 5 stars]
The long-awaited film version of Philip Pullman's fantasy novel is an entertaining if somewhat uneven adaptation.
On an alternate Earth where people's souls take on animal shapes known as daemons and where the powerful Magisterium reigns supreme, young Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is entrusted with a golden compass that allows her to see the truth of things. After her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) leaves on a journey, she's taken into the care of the sinister Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). When Lyra learns that Mrs. Coulter is behind the mysterious disappearances of children, including her best friend Roger (Ben Walker), she flees with her daemon Pan (voice of Freddie Highmore) and begins an epic adventure to rescue the children and find her uncle. Along the way she gathers crucial allies in the ice bear Iorek Byrnison (voice of Ian McKellen), the Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), and the witch queen Serafina (Eva Green).
Screenwriter/director Chris Weitz (best known as one of the producers of the American Pie films, but also the co-director of Down to Earth and About a Boy) succeeds on the whole in bringing Pullman's novel to the screen. The film is mostly faithful to the plot of the novel, and even though Pullman's philosophical views are watered down, the story still works as a more broadly anti-authoritarian tale, even if it has become more about spectacle than ideas. Weitz is up to the task of visualizing the story, ably blending live action and visual effects while displaying a competent handling of the action scenes. It's an enjoyable film, but one that's not without flaws.
What makes it merely good rather than great is that a certain degree of character development, plot development, and pacing has been sacrificed on the altar of creating a film that's less than two hours in running time, but it's hard to say if that's the fault of Weitz or of New Line Cinema. Even an extra thirty minutes would have improved the pacing and allowed for more development of the key characters and themes, potentially making it a better film. A decision was also made to end the film at a slightly earlier point in the story, leaving the novel's final chapters to be used as a prologue for a sequel if one is produced. Combined with the relatively short running time, the ending leaves one feeling as if there should have been a little more to it.
Cinematographer Henry Braham (Nanny McPhee, Flyboys) contributes gleaming lighting that stylishly conjures up the appropriate mood for an epic fantasy, while production designer Dennis Gassner (Field of Dreams, Waterworld) and costume designer Ruth Myers (Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Addams Family) create an amazing world to feast your eyes on. The visual effects, produced by several effects houses, are skillfully rendered, and convincingly portray such creatures of the fantastic as daemons and talking bears. If a fantasy film can be judged solely on how well the story's world is brought to life, then The Golden Compass is a smashing success. Alexandre Desplat (Syriana, The Queen) provides a solid musical score, although the song during the end credits written and performed by Kate Bush is surprisingly unmemorable.
Despite having limited acting experience, Richards makes her film debut with a spirited performance as Lyra. Kidman plays against type as a villainess, but her icy delivery really captures the character of Mrs. Coulter. Craig is only in a few scenes as Lord Asriel, but he makes the most of them with his usual magnetism. Although Weitz wanted to use a lesser known actor to voice Iorek, the rich voice of McKellen really adds another dimension to the character. Elliott is just perfect as Scoresby. While they may have only limited screen time as leading members of the Magisterium, does it get any better than Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee hatching evil plots together? I think not.
The rest of the cast is effective, including Green as Serafina, Walker as Roger, Ian McShane as the voice of King Ragnar of the ice bears, Highmore as Pan's voice, Jim Carter as Gyptian leader John Faa, Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram, Clare Higgins as Ma Costa, Charlie Rowe as Billy Costa, Kristin Scott Thomas as the voice of Asriel's dameon, Kathy Bates as the voice of Scoresby's rabbit daemon Hester, and Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel.
While The Golden Compass may not be on the same level as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it's still a good fantasy film that offers much entertainment value while generally remaining faithful to its literary source.
[4 out of 5 stars]
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