You can’t hide the truth, you can only try to bury it
Lyra Belacqua is an orphan. She only knows the school grounds where she works and can only hope for a better life, even a better adventure in years to come. When the adventure finally occurs she finds herself in the middle of it. Playing a children’s game, Lyra finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hiding in a coat closet, ready to steal a robe from a council man at a University, she unintentionally ends up saving the life of the famous Lord Asriel. Stopping him from drinking poison, she somehow gets tangled up for a trip to the north to talk to the great Polar Bears. With her is her daemon companion Pantalaimon, a soul-mate for her childhood. Armed with him and a gift given to her that’s called an Alethiometer(it reveals the truth to all of her questions), she intends to find so many different worlds and creatures. Before she can go though, she finds out a grave tale of a group called the Gobless, who steal children in the night. She soon finds herself trying to discover where the Gobless reside, while she is traveling, when her best friend goes missing. What she ultimately discovers is horror and truth, which is where her adventure truly begins.
I’ll be honest, I would need an additional hour of this movie to really understand everything it has setup. From the get-go it dives right into the storyline and the characters. On the way it tries to explain everything you need to know about the universe that it’s residing in, but there just isn’t enough screen time for it. For the most part, that’s forgiven. Why would I forgive them for it? I know that the movie is over, but there is still more story to tell. The movie itself is born from a series of novels, much like the Narnia series. It probably gives a better explanation to what’s going on in the first book than the movie gives, but it still has more story to tell. I figure that when the second movie springs up (and I hope it does because I can’t live without the rest of the story) it will certainly explain a little bit more about things. First off, everyone in the film has a connection with their daemon pair. The children’s daemons shapeshift, while the adults don’t. Why is this? It has something to do with a thing called ‘dust’. There’s no great explanation about what ‘dust’ is or where it came from, but it’s the source and heart of this entire story. It’s apparently keeping the bond between human and daemon as well as *SPOILER* keeping some sort of path between different dimensions *SPOILER ENDS*. Regardless of what it is, it’s not explained well enough in the movie to make me feel completely comfortable talking about it. Anyway, I think that the cliffhanger in the end surely will lead most people to ‘die for’ the next, but I haven’t heard any rumblings for a sequel. I blame New Line completely for not dedicating itself to three films. For a company that literally pulled in billions from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it should have enough gall to stake some money, and able budget, for more Golden Compass films. You cannot leave the audience hanging like this, there’s far too much to explain.
To get off my soap box, the performances by every individual in the movie truly helped move the storyline quickly. You can see how hasty everything had to be and how the story itself was very time-constrained. Literally it moves quickly without looking back. It’s going to confuse some people, but in the short-time you get to know the characters, you’ll know the characters. For example, I already despise Nicole Kidman’s Marisa Coulter. She is ruthless, cunning and just plain evil. She works as an agent of evil for the religious group who will stop at nothing to make sure that Daniel Craig’s character, Lord Asriel, doesn’t uncover the true purpose of life and how it came to be. It’s real easy to see how simple character development can be so powerful. And while everyone’s performance was quick and to the point, you have to give Dakota Blue Richards props for being a very power hero as her character Lyra Belacqua certainly developed into. These performances, plus a spectacular performance from Ian McKellen as Iorek Byrnison (Polar Bear), really drove the film and help one forgive the storyline.
Outside of actors/actresses, I can see why this film was a bit controversial. It is no mystery that the author of the novel, Philip Pullman, has been labeled an atheist. So what if he is? In the scheme of things some of the most popular people in the world don’t believe in God or any other religion. Some scientist don’t believe in God or the existence of a God. Regardless, it would be nice if people just sat down and enjoyed a film once in a while. When Dogma first hit the screen there was so much controversy over it that it went through hell and back to get on the screen. When it finally made it, everyone who was giving it a difficult time breathed and understood that they completely overreacted. Not just slightly, not barely, COMPLETELY. i won’t lie to you, there are some implications that religion may be covering up something greater, but they never really say all religion is evil, just this one particular one. Sheesh, enjoy the movie stop looking for reasons to hate it.
Anyway, you have to give props to Chris Weitz who knew what the time-limits (and probably budget) were, but still managed to direct and write the way he thought would succeed. It is incredibly difficult to translate a novel to a film, especially a fantasy — ask Peter Jackson if you ever get a chance, and to take all the important parts, put them together and try to pull it off, he did a masterful job. Regretfully, most people will be left hungry for more, which stinks. This is the first film I have forgiven for not laying out all the details. It deserves a second and third chance to do so, and time is literally slipping away for this to happen. As child actors/actresses go, they grow up fast. If the next films are greenlit for this year, they will be considerably older looking. If they replace the actors/actresses, then the film will be hurt. If they use the same kids, then they’ll have to explain the aging. Regardless, time is ticking. If the DVD sells well, New Line needs to make a decision fast.
Hopefully it is the right one.
The truth of the special features, where’s my Alethiometer?
If you’re looking for some nice special features, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s what you get on The Golden Compass: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD:
Disc One
Commentary by Writer/Director Chris Weitz
Disc Two
Origins – The Novel, The Adaption, Oxford
Behind the Scenes – Finding Lyra Belacqua, Costumes, Music, Production Design, The Launch
Lyra’s World – Armoured Bears, The Alethiometer, Daemons
For a movie that had so much controversy, that doesn’t even have a sequel planned at the moment, the features are very well done. They help to give more insight into the film itself,but a film should never depend on the features to fill in holes. The making of featurettes are impressive, the explanation of the novel is even more so, and the commentary is a great addition.
Excellent features in my opinion.
So, what do to now in this dimension
You have a couple of options here. The first choice, you can accept the storyline is rushed and go into the film trying to pick up on as much as you can. You can go purchase the books and fill in the gaps. The second choice, you can reject the film, praise the studio for not continuing it and go about your merry lives. For this reviewer, I’m watering at my mouth for another part of this story. it is unfair to give an audience only a portion of the goods. It is unfair to the actors and actresses, and the director for that matter. I say that this movie, while rushed, is still worthy of your viewing. It’s made a wonderful addition to this DVD reviewer’s heart and I hope it will for yours as well.
Good features, good movie, is there any thing more truthful than that? I’ll check the Alethiometer just to make sure.