Golden For A Reason!

The Golden Compass

By Dan Scillieri

Personal Grade: B / B+

Talking In Movies went to go see the Golden Compass on its opening night, and it was worth it. From the very beginning this film captured your imagination and kept you wide eyed in your seats. The Golden Compass was originally a book, and we all know adapting literature to film is difficult, but this movie did it with flying colors. The basis of the story is that the universe is made up of infinite dimensions which are held together by a cosmic dust. I know what you are thinking, How could dust bind the universe, but this isn't ordinary household dust, the dust is just a term used to describe the essence of these parallel dimensions. In the dimension the story takes place, people walk side by side with their souls, who have taken the physical form of an animal which represents you. These people are bound to their animals which are called Daemons (not like the hellish ones) they share pain, emotions, and even death. (For one can not survive without their soul.) They then describe these amazing artifacts called Alethiometer, or golden compass. The compass has the power to give you a truthful answer, if you know how to properly ask the question. Like every story, there is an evil side which wants to find the compass and remove all talks of Dust and a resistance of heroes who fight back against the forces of darkness. This action packed adventure full of witches, talking animals and giant armors ice bears is a great movie that Talking In Movies fully enjoyed. In my opinion, here is why....

The Pros:
As said earlier, a story full of talking animals, cosmic instruments and one hell of a cast made this movie everything I hoped for. Even though I have not read the books, this was still an excellent story to follow. The main character, a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is given the golden compass and begins her adventure to find lost children who are mysteriously taken by suspected "goblers". She runs into Nicole Kidman's character Marisa Coulter, who is just as evil as they come. With the help of friends she escapes Marisa Coulter and meets up with more great characters along the way. Daniel Craig (yes the new james bond) plays Lord Asriel Belacqua, Lyra's powerful uncle who is set on finding a gateway to the other dimensions. The beautiful Ava Green plays Serafina Pekkala, a several hundred year old witch. Sam Elliot comes in as Lee Scoresby, an old and wise cowboy who rides a flying machine instead of a horse. Another excellent character is the giant Ice Bear for hire, Iorek Byrnison who's voice is the great Ian Mckellen. As the movie goes on and on, Lyra's quick thinking to get out of tough situations and more than a few chase scenes definitely keeps you locked on the screen. There are a handful of great fight scenes where both Humans and their Daemon spirits fight it out, a cool effect is when the human dies their daemon explodes into the cosmic dust. In my personal opinion, one of the best scenes of the movie is the epic Ice Bear battle. Two massive armored polar bears square off one on one and the final moments of the fight had not only Team Talking In Movies but the whole audience gasping in amazement. These elements such as the cast, effects, and story line made this movie an easy B/B+ in my books.

The Cons:
This movie deserved its given grade so the cons list will be short. Through out the movie there was a sense that several things were left unexplained. I feel if I had read the book prior to the seeing the movie, a few more things would have pieced together. One thing that I noticed that really didn't weaken the movie but it didn't sit well with me was the deal with the Daemons. They were supposed to be a physical representation of the human's spirit, but they were their own entity. Certain characters were closely compared to their animals such as Daniel Craigs'. His was a sleek muscular snow leopard that didn't talk much but when it did it demanded respect and could instantly pounce if needed, just like D.C. But even then, His daemon was a female, along with several other characters of the story. Their daemons were of the opposite sex and didn't seem to have similar personality. I just thought the connection between the human and their "spirit" should have been a little stronger.

Overall:
The Golden Compass provides an excellent story with a great cast. I enjoyed the entire movie from beginning to end. There was more than enough action, adventure, and comedy to give this movie a solid B/B+. It is definitely worth seeing in the movie theater, possibly more than once, and an easy choice for the top of your queue on the online movie rental service. I am already planning on reading the series of books and hoping for an early release of the sequel story.


Favorite Quote/Scene:
There will be a slight change this film. instead of a quote it will be a favorite scene. It easily goes to the scene at the end of the Ice Bear Fight. It was such an awesomely quick ending that almost made you stand up and cheer.