The Golden Compass

The tough thing about reviewing The Golden Compass is that there are so many complex levels to it. The acting, the special effects, the script, the religious and philosophical undertones. When Eragon came out last year...I'm not known for my bad criticism, but Eragon was horrid in every imaginable way. Which is why it's so odd as to why it's so deep, so complex.

There's a lot of controversy surrounding this movie, and the Catholic Church has even gone as far as to attempt to boycott it. I would like to leave a note, just to say, I'm not rating this movie based on it's controversial religous or philosophical implications. I believe in God, and am a Christian, but am purely rating this film on it's entertainment, production and acting values. Not to say I agree with the film's implications.

The film is set in an alternate universe where human souls are not in their bodies, but in the form of an animal companion, called a daemon. Lyra is a 12-year old girl, beautiful, but very mischevious. She is good friends with a boy named Roger, but when Roger is kidnapped by Gobblers (child abductors) Lyra vows to save him. However, when a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter asks Lyra to go to the North with her, Lyra can't pass up the oppurtunity. But Mrs. Coulter is not who she seems, and nor are the circumstances of Roger's abduction...

The acting is excellent, especially with Nicole Kidman and young Dakota Richards, and the special effects are simply magnificent. However, the storytelling is murky and it feels very rushed. And seriously, did they HAVE to get the guy who did American Pie for this? I'm not asking for Steven Spielberg here, but they should have gotten someone with more experience.

I was entertained, occasionally awed by The Golden Compass. But the story is incoherent, and I wasn't crazy about the religious references. C