For the record I love the original books. They are my second favorite fantasy series after Harry Potter. I have been watching closely on the development of the film ever since it was announced. The casting was spot on with Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter, Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby, Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala, and Ian McKellen as the voice of Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear. The kid that got selected as our main heroine Lyra Belacqua is perfect for the role. Dakota Blue Richards is so good at showing the rebellion, quick thinking action side of Lyra! I can’t believe it’s her first acting job.

Even though the cast was perfect and they have enough budget to do the film justice, I know how challenging it is for the story to be translated onto the screen. To explain physics and philosophy of the world of Golden Compass is a lot harder than in Harry Potter. The parallel universes and the complex political and racial interactions in Golden Compass is far more involving than any other so-called fantasy novels targeted to the teens. Unlike the world of Harry Potter, you can’t just explain everything by saying “it’s magic!” And I haven’t touches on the religious undertone of the books yet. So you can see I am extremely worried about the final product. Now then I have seen the movie, I can say it did an admirable job of translating all that onto the screen, but I can see how people who never read the books might find the movie a bit too heavy with not as much action. Introducing audiences to a brand new world needs time, it’s the same as the first X-Men and the Fellowship of the Ring. The story will only kick into high gear in the second and third installments. Unfortunately with the underwhelming box office number, the second and third book might never made it onto the screen. But then again just like what my roommate said, if they can make a sequel to Fantastic Four, there is always hope!

Now onto the best things in the film! First Nicole Kidman’s performance is powerful and at her best, her daemon – the golden monkey deserves praise as well! Secondly, the Bear fight in the end is the most awesome fight I have seen in the movie for a while!!!!! You would think they would hold back just because it’s a children film, but no, it was totally awesome! The last blow has audience gasp and cheered! And since we are on the subject of the bear – Ian McKellen is great even if it’s just his voice. Eva Green as Serafina the witch queen is the prettiest witch in movies. The other voice talents are worth mention too, the voice of Hester, Lee Scoresby’s daemon is Kathy Bates, she’s so much fun, too bad there wasn’t too much screen time for her. Freddie Highmore as Pantalaimon, Lyra’s daemon. Freddie really sounded like what I had imagined Pan’s voice would be like, a little timid, and yet adorable.

It’s a shame that the movie didn’t do well in box office as much as it should, cos book 2 and 3 has even more amazing creatures and universes to explore. From a Dementor-alike Spectres, to a wheel-using natural animal tribe Mulefa, to the ghosts and the death, to the tiny Gallivespians that ride on dragonfly, to Cliff ghast and even angels! I can only hope they will make the sequels because they actually didn’t finish the first book in the movie yet, they cut out the ending in the movie. There was a pivotal ending that was sad and ironic and nevertheless important which we will never see on screen if they are not making the sequels.

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Tagged: Golden Compass · His Dark Materials · Movies