This movie was not really on my radar to be truthfully honest. I am kind of all worn out over fantasy books being translated to the big screen, but when free tickets fell into my lap, it was kind of difficult to pass up. The movie does not come out until Friday but it is not without all kinds of controversy due to the belief that the books were anti-catholic. Boycotts are being called for on the movie and the makers of the movie are scoffing at the idea of the movie being anti-religion. Of course, none of that really matters if the movie sucks, right, so will it matter?
I shall attempt to sum up the plot, but I have to admit it felt like a lot of important stuff was edited out for time and so the movie doesn't always make a ton of sense. The movie posits that there are all kinds of different dimensions where people live and they are seen as "dust." Now it gets very difficult to take this movie seriously with our own ideas of what dust is and when the characters wonder so much about "dust" it is kind of silly. The dimension we deal in is weird for us because the humans' souls are embodied in animals or what they call "demons." There are also actual animals, like the warrior bears, who talk, but they are not the souls of humans. One little girl, Lyra (Dokota Richards) is special because she can read a Golden Compass. A Golden Compass is a truth teller and with the three spokes you can ask any question and get an answer. Marisa Coulter (A frosty Nicole Kidman) works for a mysterious organization who lives to control the minds of every living being and wants to get children to grow up more quickly by separating them from free will and choice. Hmmmm, sounds a bit like religion does it not? Anyway, Lyra's friends are kidnapped and she wants to save them and gets help from Gypsy like people, witches with killer bow and arrow skills, a cowboy guy who flies a boat plane and a talking warrior bear who was exiled from warrior bear land.
If you didn't follow any of that I apologize but I did the best I could. To be honest, this movie lacks a lot of cohesive story. Things happen and we aren't really sure why and things don't happen and we aren't sure why not. Daniel Craig is in the movie, but doesn't really do anything and the ending of the movie is really just a set up for more movies, I believe. The movie looks gorgeous. The epic cinematography is wonderfully done and the snow capped mountains and various location shots look stunning. Also, the effects of the CGIed demons are stunning, particularly Craig's gorgeous tiger thing. Also, the warrior bears are all astounding looking. From the individual hairs to how it moves, the detail is phenomenal. Sadly, it doesn't add up to much. The little girl, Dakota, is adorable and mischievous to be sure, but she isn't quite ready to carry a whole movie, let alone a whole series of movies. Eva Green who plays the main witch is pretty boring when she speaks and the one acting bright spot, Sam Elliott, doesn't do enough at all.
That being said there flashes of great stuff in the movie. First off, when our favorite warrior bear goes up against the king warrior bear, that fight is amazing. It is akin to the look of the Optimus Prime and Megatron fight because the effects never limit the fighting. Also, the climax of that fight is almost shocking and is such a crowd pleaser, the entire theater erupted for joy. Also, the climatic battle is pretty thrilling. The death toll is insanely large for a movie I thought I was rated PG (it is PG-13) and that last battle accounts for almost all of it, but even in that battle, nothing definite comes from it. The religious stuff seems pretty blatant to me and anyone who can't see it is oblivious. This movie is fighting very hard to rid the world of an organized religion that believes it knows everything that is right for everyone else. I am not sure why everyone wanted the compass or what the "dust" really matters and I can't say I enjoyed the 2hour movie, but then again, I didn't pay to see it.
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