So I checked out this film the other day, merely to see what was all the fuss about. And of course I was disappointed. New Line Cinema and director Chris Weitz present this film with a splash of magical fairy-like tale, thrown into a line of action and mystery, however, truly this film is trying too hard to accomplish the grandiose attitude of Harry Potter, and adventure filled labyrinth of Lord of the Rings, as well as borrowed visuals and talking animals from The Chronicles of Narnia trilogies. Cute plot; an orphan girl lives in a parallel world, where one’s soul takes the shape of an animal. She is the chosen one, the one who can read the Golden Compass, fancy clockwork that reveals the truth. This Fantastical tale based on the novel by Philip Pullman, managed to skyrocket the box office at its release with first place of $26million. And I must agree, the amount of advertisements this film got, no wonder people will go see it…
It is a remarkable idea, to base fantasy tales from trilogies of books, however make sure to entice the viewer with character development or at least a bit of a plot expansion, just to clearly understand what is going on in there. For me, the ending was just too raw, and did not immerse me in the hopes for the upcoming sequel. I did not find it intriguing enough, to seek out continuation or encore for that matter. The storyline was not powerful or better yet, was not catchy. And character flaw, separated the viewer from its heroes or enemies. As the villain of the film, we got Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter, devilishly smiley resemblance of Darth Vadar, decked out in gold. Coulter peruses her way through the heart of Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) in order to reach for the Golden Compass. But of course fails, since the villain never wins in tales like these. Then we have Daniel Craig as Azriel, a man/teacher that appears at the very beginning of the movie and seems to hold higher importance to the plot, however disappears throughout and his character never quite develops further on. What saves you from stepping out of the theatre is a spunky white polar bear, Iorek Byrnison (voice of Ian McKellen). A warrior, and a drunk, Iorek is the most developed character as it’s the simplest. Drastic close ups of wildering roars overtake the scene as the bear fights, and that is probably the highlight worth seeing in this film.