How much do I really have to say about The Golden Compass?
I liked it.
I don’t know how much deeper I need to get into the thing.
The story takes a while to get rolling, with a whole lot of what is not being said being dead obvious to pretty much anyone who has experience reading the tea leaves of dramas, professionally or otherwise. But for me, the film was kind of a primer for a series that I will be happy to watch.
I really liked Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua. I like her daemon. The kid is charismatic in a real little movie star way. And my sense from this film, not having read the books, is that her journey is going to lead somewhere really interesting. Whereas Harry Potter always feels to me like we are going into each film to learn more about Harry’s story, this film strikes me as a series for young and old, heading toward some greater truths about human beings.
It struck me as interesting that I felt the weakest elements of the film were the grandest… big airships and landscapes announced with a blare of orchestral pomp. It was as though someone was singing along to these BIG MOMENTS in my head… “We want to be Lord of The Riiiiiiings… Please let us be Lord of the Riiiiings.” The Golden Compass is not Lord of the Rings. It’s not being nominated for Best Picture this year. (Who knows what is to come with future titles?) But in many ways, it does what it does well as well as any of the Rings pictures or other franchises. Like the first Star Wars set, it is about the characters before it is about the effects.
One effect that really does work and becomes second nature – though I am sure it was a nightmare – is the Daemons. After 20 minutes or so, seeing them with their humans is as natural as seeing a costume element. And they are kinda wonderful. The idea that they are the id of the individual – I guess that’s the idea – fills the screen with all kinds of subtext, which will make multiple viewings a richer experience. Some of the Daemon action is text, not subtext. But a lot of it won’t be read the first time through and will make more sense in perspective.
Chris Weitz, who bailed out initially when he decided he wasn’t ready to direct such a big, visual film, was right. But the humanity of Weitz, which he has shown in his other films, overcome a lot of his limitations as a visualist. So I am happy he took it on and look forward to an even more skilled director taking on future editions of the story. Think of what Cuaron did in the Potter series and you get the idea. Weitz delivered the intimacy, but Cuaron had the visual imagination to place that feeling into a huge picture.
I wish there was more of Daniel Craig, who really has a tiny role here… but he is promised as a more significant character next time around. Nicole Kidman is good, but intentionally stiff – her Daemon delivers all of the passion she is too tight to exhibit – and she is a little odd to watch in stiff mode. I am not of the group that thinks she has lost expression in real life, having seen her up close and pretty normal looking as well as in movies like Margot At The Wedding. But here, it is her character and it’s a little Madame Tussaud.
Nice to see Derek Jacobi and Tom Courtenay and Sam Elliot. Nice to hear Ian McKellan and Ian McShane.
New Line should be happy with what they’ve got. It’s probably not going to be an $800 million-plus an episode franchise, but $500 million worldwide per film seems like a reasonable expectation… and perhaps it will be more. I like Rings a whole lot, though not fanatically, and found Narnia to be for 8-year-olds... this one lives right in between for me, though it could well grow into something greater. I look forward to the next film.
Read the complete post at http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2007/11/pointing_north.html