Daemons Galore
URGA MOTW
The Golden Compass
Based on Phillip Pullman's "Northern Lights" (even the credits say so!) from the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, this new film has been advertised as a Lord of the Rings/Narnia/Potter epic saga, because that's how studios advertise fantasy movies, whether they're for kids or adults. OK, The Golden Compass is fantasy (broadly speaking), it's epic, but it's not nearly as childish or generic-kid-friendly as some of the other stories. This is for intelligent kids 8 and up, and has a quite complex and dark storyline.
It's hard to summarise, as there's so many plot subtleties that the easiest thing to do is watch the film yourself and pay close attention to the dialogue! However, put as simply as I can: In an alternate Earth - Jordan College, Oxford to be precise - young orphan Lyra finds herself at the centre of a deeper and deeper conspiracy involving a child-snatching group called the "Gobblers". In this world, people's souls are outside their bodies as companion animals called daemons, and a church-like body called the Magisterium wants to control everyone's lives and prevent people like Lyra's Uncle Asriel from finding out about gateways to other universes, which might conceivably exist and thus go against what the Magisterium has been preaching for millenia. Lyra is taken away from the college by the beautiful but sinister Mrs Coulter, and after discovering her secrets, Lyra escapes and travels northwards to where the Gobblers take the missing children. Along the way she meets the sea-faring Gyptians, mysterious flying witches and talking Armoured Ice Bears.
It can be quite a confusing universe for someone who isn't really into fantasy or science-fiction, with a lot of abnormal concepts that all the characters accept as normal, considering that is how *their* world works. Of course, a lot of children (especially intelligent ones) shouldn't have a problem with it, because they have far better imaginations that adults.
As an adaption of the book (my memory of which is quite foggy, to be honest), I was quite happy - the main plot points are there, and the wickedness of the Magisterium isn't "toned down" as much as reports had led me to believe. As with all adaptions, some stuff has had to be cut or abbreviated, but I didn't notice too many major parts missing. That being said, the movie ends a little short of the book, with a kind of conclusion that has things somewhat nicely wrapped up just in case this film isn't successful enough for the sequels to be made. If they aren't, it'd be a shame, because The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass take the story to even more epic levels.
This film has an awful lot of CGI - every human has an animal daemon - and it's pretty much perfect. The animals look quite real and even an all-out fight between two polar bears does not look cartoony or fake in any way (apart from the fact, that it's two talking bears wearing armour that are doing the fighting). Effects-wise, I can't pick any flaws in this film.
If I did have to pick on this movie, the lack of the final chapter of the book (which apparently they filmed but decided not to include in this cut, saving it for the next film) and the rather unexciting climactic battle were a bit of a let down. Otherwise, it's a very good adaption.
By no means the best film of this genre, but it's definitely a very good film. If you are intelligent and like fantasy stories, go see it.
8.5/10
The Golden Compass
Based on Phillip Pullman's "Northern Lights" (even the credits say so!) from the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, this new film has been advertised as a Lord of the Rings/Narnia/Potter epic saga, because that's how studios advertise fantasy movies, whether they're for kids or adults. OK, The Golden Compass is fantasy (broadly speaking), it's epic, but it's not nearly as childish or generic-kid-friendly as some of the other stories. This is for intelligent kids 8 and up, and has a quite complex and dark storyline.
It's hard to summarise, as there's so many plot subtleties that the easiest thing to do is watch the film yourself and pay close attention to the dialogue! However, put as simply as I can: In an alternate Earth - Jordan College, Oxford to be precise - young orphan Lyra finds herself at the centre of a deeper and deeper conspiracy involving a child-snatching group called the "Gobblers". In this world, people's souls are outside their bodies as companion animals called daemons, and a church-like body called the Magisterium wants to control everyone's lives and prevent people like Lyra's Uncle Asriel from finding out about gateways to other universes, which might conceivably exist and thus go against what the Magisterium has been preaching for millenia. Lyra is taken away from the college by the beautiful but sinister Mrs Coulter, and after discovering her secrets, Lyra escapes and travels northwards to where the Gobblers take the missing children. Along the way she meets the sea-faring Gyptians, mysterious flying witches and talking Armoured Ice Bears.
It can be quite a confusing universe for someone who isn't really into fantasy or science-fiction, with a lot of abnormal concepts that all the characters accept as normal, considering that is how *their* world works. Of course, a lot of children (especially intelligent ones) shouldn't have a problem with it, because they have far better imaginations that adults.
As an adaption of the book (my memory of which is quite foggy, to be honest), I was quite happy - the main plot points are there, and the wickedness of the Magisterium isn't "toned down" as much as reports had led me to believe. As with all adaptions, some stuff has had to be cut or abbreviated, but I didn't notice too many major parts missing. That being said, the movie ends a little short of the book, with a kind of conclusion that has things somewhat nicely wrapped up just in case this film isn't successful enough for the sequels to be made. If they aren't, it'd be a shame, because The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass take the story to even more epic levels.
This film has an awful lot of CGI - every human has an animal daemon - and it's pretty much perfect. The animals look quite real and even an all-out fight between two polar bears does not look cartoony or fake in any way (apart from the fact, that it's two talking bears wearing armour that are doing the fighting). Effects-wise, I can't pick any flaws in this film.
If I did have to pick on this movie, the lack of the final chapter of the book (which apparently they filmed but decided not to include in this cut, saving it for the next film) and the rather unexciting climactic battle were a bit of a let down. Otherwise, it's a very good adaption.
By no means the best film of this genre, but it's definitely a very good film. If you are intelligent and like fantasy stories, go see it.
8.5/10