I was excited and scared… and now, well, I’m just so disappointed …

So says young Lyra in The Golden Compass, the big screen adaptation of Philip Pullman’s outstanding His Dark Materials sequence, when she finally gets to meet an armoured bear. At the point in the film where Lyra utters this, I must confess I felt a reluctant surge of empathy.

Here’s a brief synopsis for those who missed out on the novels – and if you have, then you’ve missed out on quite a lot.

The Golden Compass begins in alternative-world Oxford where Lyra is seemingly an average eleven-year-old girl running wild around Jordan College.
Snooping around college chambers one day, Lyra accidentally learns about a mysterious substance known as Dust, a strange material attracted to adults but not to children.
Hiding in a cupboard during a meeting called by the recently returned Lord Asriel, Lyra discovers that Uncle Asriel has set his sights on a parallel world – and intends to travel north in order to cross the threshold.

In Lyra’s world, the authorative Magisterium regards such an attempt – even the notion of other existences – as the worst kind of heresy. And so the scene is set…

Funded by the college, Asriel sets off for the snowy north regardless of the Authority’s exceptions. When the Gobblers – a shady group snatching local children for an even shadier purpose – kidnap Lyra’s friend Roger, her feet soon follow in Lord Asriel’s footsteps.

Through a series of thrilling adventures – frequented by a whole plethora of weird and wonderful characters, including gypsies, witches, armoured bears and a particularly cruel femme fatale – Lyra comes face to face with her destiny and the audience learns of an ancient prophecy concerning an imminent war of apocalyptic proportions.

The pace of the movie fairly rattles along, the first half moving so swiftly that one wonders what audiences who have no familiarity with the story might make of it.
My Pullman-free companion was more than a little confused, and he is a grown up. Presumably, children will take the film at face value, sure – but then the original books never really intended that, did they? Something feels missing.

In short, the ideas in The Golden Compass – as in the much, much slower paced novel – are quite complex, and the speedy pace may make them more difficult to understand than is perhaps necessary.

In my opinion, this is the film’s greatest failing, as it sacrifices overall theme in favour of squashing an intricate story into two short hours.
It’s a crying shame, because the cast perform their roles with straight-faced aplomb and the concept itself is marvellous and provocative – controversial, even.

Daniel Craig makes a worthy Lord Asriel, while Nicole Kidman is refreshingly heartless as the seductively poisonous Mrs Coulter, another highlight of the movie. Dakota Blue Richards in the leading role proves an inspired choice, as the young actress earns her stripes playing Lyra in a manner that feels true to the books.

The supporting cast fare well enough. Sam Elliot presents a decent Lee Scoresby and Simon McBurney a rightly sinister Fra Pavel, although the latter role seems slightly wasted during the course of the film.

The inclusion of Sir Ian McKellen as the voice of armoured bear Iorek Byrnison felt like a misstep, whichever way you look at it. It was impossible to shake the image of Gandalf from my head whenever the bear spoke, and, make no mistake, Lord of the Rings – probably one of the best fantasy-book-to-film adaptations in recent years – casts a long shadow over Compass. Expectations are high, and I’m not sure they’ll be met when one considers the movie itself and the mixed reviews so far.

Speaking of bears, for my money, these were certainly the best part of the movie (with the witches a close second). The scenes concerning the former beasts mark the place where the movie appears to find its feet after what, in all honesty, is a rushed start.

The second half of The Golden Compass works so much better than the first, with adequate tension, great special effects, and a smattering of thrills. No doubt, this is a film that looks good, but there simply isn’t enough time for character building, so, sadly, a lot of the novel’s gravitas gets jettisoned as well.
And the ending just doesn’t cut the mustard, not when one recalls the cliff-hanger in the novel.
But I won’t ruin it for you. Suffice it to say that my eagerness to see the sequel plummeted somewhat, and a terrific plot device from the original novel seemed criminally ignored.

All in all, I’d say The Golden Compass is a good movie – but not great. Unlike the novel, it seems strangely forgettable. Having completely extracted the adult vein that made the books so popular, what’s left is a decent kid’s film…but little more than that.

In light of this, I have to admit I was disappointed…but then I still have the novels to re-read and cherish, so I suppose I still win in the end?

© The Exploding Boy

Haven't seen this yet - your comments seem to chime with Anthony Quinn's review in the Independent last week - he also makes the point that there is no 'big villain' in Pullman - no Saruman or Voldemort or even Darth Vadar - which I suppose is true?

Did anyone see 'His Dark Materials' at the National a year or so back? That was a brave experiment - brilliant in parts and falling flat in others but compelling to watch nonetheless.

Can't help thinking HDM is not easy to stage or film - and if you water down the main source of tension it has to dilute the effect?

Am looking forward to the film - but am kind of expecting it not to live up to the books.

Sarah

Hi Sarah

Yes, I think that's a fair comment. Thing is, the main source is what makes HDM what it is, so diluting it kind of pulls a punch and so the movie doesn't seem to come close to digging under the surface. The result seemed slightly flat. It's not a terrible film, far from it, but well, my views above are pretty honest in my opinion. I'm sure some people will love it.

JB

Hi JB
I agree with your points and I think the simplification went a bit too far.
Without giving too much away, I think some of the plot changes were designed to make the characters more clearly good, whereas in the book things are more blurred.
I'd be interested to see the next two films though.

Azjale

I'll go to see them but I'm not as enthusiastic as I was. It's a real pity, because after The Fellowship of the Ring I was gagging for the next part, and I think that's how it should work really.
I know the two stories are quite different and appeal to slightly different audiences, but I suppose LOTR has shown how it can be done.

I know LOTR was far from perfect, and not everyone's cup of tea, but TGC seemed a little poor in comparison - and it has been promoted on the back of LOTR in the trailers, both coming out of the New Line stable. Not sure about the wisdom in that now.

I agree about the watering down and moral 'clean up' of the characters. In the book, for most of it, I though Asriel was a villain. Maybe it was partly the enigmatic tone of the novels that went walkabouts.

JB

'Sorry, we do have Beowulf showing, but not today'. So what do I get to see instead because it's screening at the same time?

I can't believe how bad this film is, given the talent involved. The central perfomance is the biggest weakness. Who is this girl, Eliza Dolittle or Tess of the Durbevilles with a Roedean overgloss? No disrespect to her, because the dialect coach is at fault, but why try to combine coy simpering with brave defiance in the same character? It just makes her look barmy, although I did note she's supposed to be the daughter of a Lord. Do the Oxford urchins talk like Fagin's gang? Lyra's knitwear was good, I thought, done on big needles and in tasteful autumnal colours to go with the red hair.

I agree the talking animals were the best bit, but the bears were too scary. In fact, it was all very nasty, condemning hierarchy and violence but glorying in it at the same time, especially in the big battle scene. Such a shame, because soundtrack, mise-en-scene and MSG - I think I mean CGI - effects were all excellent. I loved Greenwich Naval College's painted hall at the start and the outside shots all tarted up with extra towers, etc, in the early scenes. The best bit was Lyra clinging onto the bear as it galloped across the snowy wastes. Nicole Kidman did what she could. The main lack was any kind of sense. It's the kind of movie that gives film a bad name - all sound and fury utterly without meaning.Do they really expect people to watch a sequel?

I will have another go at seeing Beowulf soon, but definitely accept no substitutes next time.

Sheila

The subtlety that made the books so good (but admittedly, I did struggle with Northern Lights and gave up twice before finishing it) just doesn't translate to this movie at all.
Biggest disappointment of '07, film-wise, I reckon.

JB

My partner says the books are good, and I know Philip Pullman has a good reputation, which is why I gave it a go. Fantasy is not my favourite genre, but there seem to be a lot of them in the pipeline going by the trailers.

I couldn't find a crit of Golden Compass in Sight and Sound although I have up to the January issue. I think Rotten Tomatoes is a good website, so I'll know more about what the filmmakers were attempting when I've had a look.

I'm hoping to see at Beowulf today.

Sheila

<Added>

Comments across the spectrum here:

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/his_dark_materials_the_golden_compass/