The Golden Compass
In a world where children's souls exist outside their bodies in the form of animals, a brave girl must learn the truth and save her friends.
Based on a novel trilogy by Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass introduces an alternate world in which people's souls exist outside their bodies as animal companions called daemons. Lyra, a strong-willed and feisty little girl, is given a magic compass that works more like a crystal ball in this movie than a compass. It allows her to see events and answer questions she has about people or the past. When children from Lyra's world are being kidnapped and separated from her daemons, Lyra and her shape shifting daemon, Pan, take it upon themselves to find these children and rescue them from their pre-determined fate.
Though Lyra is a very strong heroine, I found her character rather difficult to relate to. She felt like a little boy trapped in a girl's body. One would expect a little girl to be sweet and innocent, but though Lyra's morals are never in question, there is not a hint of softness in her voice, and she always seems completely aware of what she is doing. This makes it difficult to be scared for her or even to root for her as an audience member because she always seems more than capable and never comes into a situation where her success comes in question. This eliminates any sense of suspense one could pull from the film, but at the same time, it should make her a terrific role model if she were not so difficult a character to relate to.
My favorite aspect of the film was the world itself. Every single character had an animal companion following them, and the type of animal represented that character's personality. All the guards had wolf daemons, and Nicole Kidman's morally twisted and confused character had a mischievous and sometimes dangerous monkey daemon. Polar bears also played a large part in the world, but not as daemons. The talking polar bears were just as intelligent as people and had their own culture that involved wearing armor and fighting each other to gain roles of power. Lyra gets one of these bears on her side when she befriends him and aids him in his quest to reclaim his throne. This is probably the best portion of the movie because the bear story is thoroughly explained and concludes in an exciting and suspenseful battle with a gorgeous display of CGI effects.
The special effects throughout the entire movie were beautiful, but the world itself was so dark that it was difficult to appreciate them because there was not enough light or color to take it all in and savor it. My favorite visual effect was the witches because they flew through the air beautifully with their skirts flowing. Serafina, the witch who Lyra befriends, was my favorite character despite the minimal role she played in the movie. She seemed to have a complex character background and was a bit more gentle and feminine than Lyra. Nicole Kidman's character was extremely feminine, but it was difficult to tell what her intentions were and whether she was mostly good or evil, which bothered me somewhat. The man piloting the airship was also very likable and his southern-accented bunny daemon was extremely amusing when she was first introduced.
What really bothered me about this movie, however, was the ending. Lyra accomplished one of her goals, but after she decided what she wanted to do next, the movie came to an abrupt close, obviously encouraging people to come back for the sequel. It was so inconclusive that it almost made me forget that there was anything I even liked about the film. I wanted to see more and find out what would happen next. There are some movies that set up a sequel at the end, but they at least come to a decent conclusion for the time being. I did not feel that way about this movie. It ended without even giving me a chance to fully understand Lyra's world and her quest. I wouldn't go so far as to say the ending made me hate the movie, but it certainly didn't make me walk out of the theater feeling fulfilled that I had gotten my $10 worth.
Overall, The Golden Compass is a decent fantasy movie with some beautiful special effects and a fascinating new world to explore. The main characters is difficult to relate to as a female, and it's easier to think of her as a little boy. The concept of daemons and the culture of the polar bears is what really makes the story interesting, but the CGI effects for the witches are also breathtakingly beautiful and worth seeing. However, I would not recommend seeing this movie if abrupt endings make you angry because it had one of the worst endings I have ever experienced in a film.
