Currently playing on my computer (tune in: pls, asx)
     

Sat, 28 Jun 2008

Movie Review: The Golden Compass
Title:The Golden Compass (2007)
Rating:5/10

I have wondered what someone not familiar with the Harry Potter written material would think of the film adaptations. There is so much background material omitted that it would seem somewhat bewildering to watch the Potter films without having first read the books. I need not wonder any longer, because I experienced a strong sense of bewilderment while watching The Golden Compass this evening.

The story (if I got it straight) takes place in a world where the characters do not have souls in a traditional sense, but instead are accompanied by animal "daemons" that are living, breathing, talking companions. If the daemon feels pain, then so does the person... if the person dies, so does the daemon, etc. Another key element of the movie is the existence of some sort of magic dust that makes space travel possible (a la the spice "melange" in Dune).

The authoritarian Magisterium seeks to control all persons (and their daemons) and squash out the discussion of the magical "dust". In their quest to control the population, the Magisterium kidnaps children and sends them out to a frozen wasteland to conduct experiments on them. I have no idea why, but they just do. One such child is kidnapped, and so his friend Lyra - the main character in the movie - sets out to rescue him, befriending a whole host of characters during her journey. Eventually, Lyra finds him and rescues him... with the help of a polar bear king, a Texas-style cowboy-pilot, some gypsies, and a handful of witches.

During the last few minutes of the film we learn that Lyra's father is going to be assassinated for "dust" discovery (or something) by the Magisterium (which had already failed to eliminate him once thanks to Lyra's intervention). The presumption is that there will be a sequel to the movie in order to resolve the disclosure of the assassination plot. Ho hum.

Summary: Uninspiring and confusing.

:: Posted by rus on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:59 pm
:: Filed under /reviews/movies

Comments

Re: Movie Review: The Golden Compass

There was quite a bit of noise about this movie when it was released. A bunch of Christian groups were really angry about it because the book is supposed to be VERY anti-Christian. To appease the general public, they tried to reduce much of the anti-Christian message and boil the plot down. Which is why I'm guessing it was hard to follow.

Apparently, in an interview the author of the book said he wrote it to sort of combat C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series and proceeded to say some "nasty" things about C.S. Lewis. Which of course got those Christian groups really riled up....

I never bothered to watch the movie, and it looks like I made a good choice!

:: Comment posted by Jessica on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:33

Your Comment

 
Name:
URL/Email:
  [http://... or mailto:you@wherever]
Title:
Comment:
Password:
  [see below for password]
  Save my Name and URL/Email for next time
   
 
(password is 8 characters: three thousand two hundred one followed by the word 'east')

       

←June 2008→
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30          

About
The Daily Biff
Rus Berrett's weblog

Contact Me
Email: rus at berrett dot org
AIM: biffordtdavis

Search 'The Daily Biff'

Proclamations
Exaggerated opinions of my own importance. Proceed with caution.

Buy Me Stuff
My wish list is my gift to you (yes, shameless, I know).

Subscribe
Subscribe to a syndicated feed of my weblog, brought to you by the wonders of RSS.

Categories
You can isolate posts by category using the following links.

Archives
Past entries are available for review.

Blogroll
These are a few blogs run by my esteemed friends and colleagues. My personal comments about the blog (and its author) can be accessed by clicking on the "wtf?" graphic to the immediate right of each entry (wtf = "What the flip?" as in "What the flip is grandma doing at the sand dunes?").

Family
What the flip is "Yatyk's Musings"? And who the flip is Mark Berrett?

Friends
What the flip is "The Improvist"? And who the flip is Dan Brian?
What the flip is "The Borel-Cantelli Lemma"? And who the flip is Norm Jones?