Epic fantasy book + great cast + good effects + spice of scandal = intriguing holiday movie
I am sure that we all know by now that the more epic and the more fantastic the movie, the more I want to see it. I have been looking forward to seeing this movie all year long and I was not disappointed. I make this statement knowing very well that there has been little but Harry Potter worth getting excited over this year (much to Lunanshee's disgust).
Most of this movie was admirably faithful to the book; surprisingly. I agree with some of the edits that Chris Weitz made to the script, namely the removal of a few minor characters and Lyra's extended stay among the Gyptians (which was pretty unnecessary even in the novel, in my opinion). I didn't really see the need for the addition the weasley Fra Pavel (admittedly played well by Simon McBurney) except that it is just too confusing to have the original person who tried to poison Lord Azriel in the movie (I am still not very clear why the person in the book did it...). If anything, the addition of this character introduced more religion into the narrative. (I could actually go on about this a great length, but the short of it is that I don't think that Chris Weitz took out many religious references, but that he put even more in!).
One (professional) critic stated that this film succumbed to the typical device of making the battles bigger than they were in the book to give the story more excitement and 'draw' (LotR-The Two Towers/Battle at Helm's Deep, anyone?). I watched for this through the majority of the movie and didn't find it; in fact, I thought that the edits to the story helped the pacing of the movie while still maintaining the proportion of events. That is, until the last (and here) climactic battle between the hoards guarding The Station (did it remind anyone else of the White Queen's Narnian castle??) and the 'forces of good' (Gyptians, Witches, and Ice Bear). Still, I think the battle was done well and that the stakes were sufficiently high so that the viewers were engrossed by the action. They also did not linger to long and sufficiently obscured the majority of the carnage (easy to avoid blood-splatters if you are bundled up in sub-zero gear). Even the end of the ice bear combat was sufficiently tame, given it's potential for gore. I applaud the director for this, because he doesn't dwell on the bloodiness of the conflicts, but rather what they mean to the characters and the action of the series.
The casting was so spot-on that I can hardly believe it. I think I blogged before about how perfect Nicole Kidman and Sam Elliot are for their parts; they were MADE for these parts, and pull them of delightfully. I am still not sure how two beautifully blue-eyed parents produce a brown-eyed main character (could they not have had Daniel Craig wear contacts? He is imperious enough, no matter what color his eyes. Mrs. Coulter needs hers to be blue, I would contend)?!
Speaking of, I think Dakota Blue Richards was a marvelous Lyra! Really, she was the perfect hellcat for the character, without being off-putting, shrill, or whiny. I do hate it when children in movies are entirely too precocious; it is sickening, really. Nope, this actress was a great find, even though I didn't like her as much as I wanted to (I say this because we are trained to always have sympathy for the main character/hero).
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The sets and costumes were also great; I loved that Mrs. Coulter was expressed in Art Nouveau, while a lot of the set was Art Deco. The use of color was also really well-done; Lyra's flimsy blue dress floats as she flees the (dressed in black) kidnappers in the dark train depot. Their time in the arctic is also really dimly lit, but we all know that it is barely light for months at a time that far north, and it increases the mood.
Mrs. Coulter's dresses were to-die-for, and Serafina Pekkala's dress of "strips of black silk" looked very ethereal indeed on a luminescent Eva Green. I also loved the knits that Lyra wore; Lunanshee is going to go nuts for her hats, particularly the acorn-shaped one she wears near the end of the film!
I grudgingly approve of where the movie left off, in relation to the book. The "real" ending would be a bit too much of a downer for US audiences (as someone else pointed out to me). By saving that bit of tragedy for the next film, the writer/director also secured himself a great Inciting Incident for the next in the series (I have to trot out my education sometimes, otherwise it will get moldy), but the purist in me is grumbling.
I have even heard a rumor that there is a script in place for the second movie already (although I can't find the text again to reference it here). I am in!
A note to all the religious right-wingers who are speaking out against this movie:
Haven't you got anything better to worry about? I have no sympathy for you, and think that you have very little to protest about with regard to the books, much less this movie. I think you should put your energies into something more useful, instead of whining about this movie. What could you guys rabidly tackle next? How about something far more important, like GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!!! Shame on you! There are far more important things going on that one movie that can easily be dismissed as childs'-fare. Seriously!
One more thought; you people who have interviews on RottenTomatoes.com must be visually-impaired. I know that my affection for a story or actor or even the movie makes me less of an impartial judge, but you guys are just rude, and wrong! I have only scanned a few of your comments, but they are pretty off-the-mark as far as I can tell. I can't comment about all of the technical niceties of a movie, or even of a performance. I will also admit that this movie is not perfect, and it is not better than Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, for instance, but it is a good movie. So I am going to tell all you nay-sayers that you are wrong, flat-out mistaken in your criticisms. I am convinced.
But that is why we have our own blog on the topic!
I agree with everything that Naps-A-Lot has said. Compared to many a novel adaptation, 'Golden Compass' was excellent. I think it is interesting to have a main character that is not always likable (although she was pretty darn adorable sometimes). I agree with NAL's eye comment Blue + Blue does not = Brown... I enjoyed the film and would recommend to any fantasy lover. Something I think critics of the film should keep in mind. The novel is a YA book written for a Teen audience, same with the movie. Back Off. It was better than a lot of crap that has come out and been lauded this year.
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