New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

The Golden Compass was not a movie I expected to like. In the modern plethora of children's fantasy, New Line's ads made it seem like just another Harry Potter or Narnia, which is smart, I suppose, since those franchises are insanely profitable. But, as it turns out, "Compass," based on Philip Pullman's controversial novel, has more weight and adult themes, which is restricting its power at the box office.

As you no doubt already know, "Compass" contains a liberal, anti-authority (namely religion) point of view, and preaches freethinking and open-mindedness in ways that are readily apparent. But, and this is the movie's greatest selling point, it presents its ideas in ways that are fun, exciting and adventurous. I've got to admit, the movie had me. Fantasy is a genre where we become so engulfed by atmosphere and special effects that we often lose sight of the story and dialogue. But "Compass," from writer-director Chris Weitz, is more focused on putting its heavily debated ideals at its forefront.

At the beginning, we're told the universe is made up of many different Earths, each of which has its own set of rules. They are all run by a tyranical board called the Magisterium and a God-like figure known as the Authority. Unlike our own Earth, where souls are believed to live within our bodies, people on this particular Earth live alongside their souls, and are called "daemons". Daemons can shape-shift themselves into a myriad of animals until their human counterparts become adults. It's established that whatever the human or daemon physically feels, the other feels the same.

Within this world lives a curious, spunky little girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), who has a taste for trouble and an even greater knack for finding it. She lives with her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), at Jordan College in Oxford. Asriel is a modernist and freethinker. He has acquired a picture of a mysterious substance called Dust, which flows into the world from the Arctic sky, and he shows it to his academic scholars while beseeching them for funds to travel north and find Dust's source. This could all lead to the greatest spiritual awakening in history and quite possibly discover answers that would disrupt the Magisterium and Authority's hold on the human race.

Inevitably, Lord Asriel has his fair share of enemies, one of whom is the conniving Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). She's on a mission to destroy mankind's curiosity about otherworldly things in order to "save" humans from themselves. She takes young Lyra on as her apprentice in order to steer the little girl, who's rumored to be the most important link in a world-changing prophecy. But before she leaves with Mrs. Coulter, the college master gives Lyra an alethiometer, or Golden Compass, to see life's truths. What "truths" Lyra eventually finds I'll let you discover, but I will say they're dark, disturbing and involve children, along with a process called "intercision." Lyra finds herself on a journey to help her uncle and his quest to find life's answers. Among other people and groups, she's aided by a talking armored bear named lorek Byrnison (voice of Ian McKellen), a witch (Eva Green), and an aeronaut (Sam Elliot), who luckily arrives in the nick of time almost everywhere he goes.

Continued:       1       2