I’ve got to say as a fan of the Pullman books I was really looking forward to this film, that’s why the review may be a little harsh in its criticism - but sometimes the truth hurts. Review also available (as are they all) at Heilum.com under Nicholas Cockayne.
The Golden Compass, based on ‘Northern Lights’, the first book of Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials, has all the elements needed to make a great film, but somehow it never quite delivers. Star performances, astounding visuals, high action, evil adversaries. It’s all there, but somehow the film feels a little hollow and heartless.
The film follows the adventures of Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) as she follows her destiny from the dusty corridors of Jordan College to the frozen tundra of the North in search of her kidnapped friend Roger. Along the way she inadvertently picks up an army of Gyptian sailors, another of beautiful witches, a drawling American aeronaught, and a massive armoured bear. Dogging her steps is the full force of the dark and tyrannical institute of the Magisterium, a glacially frosty Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), and one terrifying golden monkey; all hell bent on taking the eponymous golden compass off her hands because it’s really a truth gauge. Oh, and it’s all set in a world where people’s souls walk around with them in the form of talking animals called daemons. Don’t worry, it’s really not as confusing as it sounds.
If there is blame to be placed for the flatness of the film, it certainly cannot fall upon the actors. The actors all give convincing performances, whether it be the feisty young Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, or the rugged Daniel Craig who puts in a great turn as her eccentric scientist of an uncle. The only possible criticism is that the actors are very type cast: frosty Kidman treats us to glares that leave you shivering, and Sam Elliot relaxes into his southern drawl as laid back aeronaught Lee Scoresby. Christopher Lee is even thrown in for a brief role, seemingly just to lend menace to the Magisterium council. Even the spectacle of Ian McKellen’s voice coming from the savage armoured bear Iorek Byrnison is only disturbing until you get used to it.
Visually the film is spectacular, almost seamlessly incorporating CG daemons into every scene, and the armoured bears really are something to behold. There is plenty of eye candy to enthral younger audiences, but for older viewers this still fails to make up for the films main failing.
What relegates the Golden Compass to the bin of average fantasy films, when with a little effort it could so easily have been great, is the decisions made by screen writer and director Chris Weitz. Here, I feel, the buck stops and the blame lands.
Firstly it is important to know that at one point Weitz resigned as director, was replaced, and then rehired. He also rejected the famous playwright Tom Stoppard’s script in favour of adapting the book himself. So, basically, he brought it on himself.
Where Pullman’s books appeal to young and old alike is in the combination of solid likeable characters and philosophical undertones that make you actually think about what is being related to you; something which the film utterly lacks. Weitz’s plot feels so rushed that there is little time for any character development, creating a distance between characters and audience that leaves you watching the film, not engaging with it.
Likewise the speed of the film allows for plenty of action, but never explains WHY any of it is happening; the philosophical aspects of the books are almost totally ignored (there may have been a single one line reference) and we’re left with a weak explanation that it’s all got something to do with particles of Dust. Considering the main themes of book on which the film is based are religion, God, and free will, Weitz’s decision to cut any mention of these from the film is pretty gutless, and will no doubt leave a lot of fans of Pullman fuming.
This sense of rushing to throw spectacular action at the audience at the cost of reason is no where better demonstrated than in the battle scene with the Tartars. A mass of children escape from a Magistrium building and are faced with a bleak snow field. Illogically, from nowhere appears a fierce army of Tartars. And then an armoured bear. And then an army of witches. And an army of Gyptians. All, apparently, without any of the others (or the audience) having seen them appraoch. It’s certainly shocking to watch, but there’s a little bit of your brain that’s screaming “but where did they all appear from?”
Likewise where the book melds elements that appeal to all age groups seamlessly, Weitz really doesn’t seem to know exactly who he’s making this film for. Despite plenty of battle scenes and deaths, the film is Disneylike in its pristine lack of blood or gore. Even when two huge polar bears are biting and clawing one another not a single drop of the red stuff stains their glossy fur. Here the film seems to be aiming for a low age rating so that more younger viewers can enjoy it. But then one bear rips off the other’s lower jaw and tosses it across the ice in a manner that would suggest a higher age rating for the film. Shocked? I certainly was. Yet even this pretty macabre sight is rendered without any blood. Yes, that’s right, half a polar bear’s head is ripped off, but bloodlessly.
This is the film’s failing. Despite star actors, visual splendours, and great source material, Weitz tries to cram all the action of the book into the film with none of its reason or heart; all while seemingly in two minds as to what he is really aiming towards. The result is a film that could have been great, but instead merely entertains. This just goes to show the effect a bad director can have on a potentially wonderful film
3/5 Badgers
