Cast: Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Elliot, Freddie Highmore, Kathy Bates, Christopher Lee

Director: Chris Weitz

Running time: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Family/Sci-Fi


REVIEW:

Truth be told, there are some novels out there that are best left as books, unscathed by filmic scalpels. Philip Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS, for one. As soon as Hollywood planned to pin down the project, it’s hard not to fret for it. The series’ extreme complexity is definitely head-numbing to tackle, merging theology, laws of physics and science, and Church-bashing epistle into the genre of escapist fantasy for children. Now since THE GOLDEN COMPASS has already graced the screen, albeit without protection from the attacks of religious sects, considerably, the anti-Church theme has been toned down quite radically, appealing more family-friendly and kid-loving. However this film was bound to be imperfect, and it might not please all fans, but COMPASS is nevertheless a spectacle of high, sophisticated fantasy brimmed with adventure, free-spirit, and intelligence, one that’s not so common in fantasy franchises nowadays. Some people reckon it’s a bit rushed, but cinematically, it deserved the pacing it needs and its rendition is cinematic enough for its storytelling.

The first volume of the trilogy, THE GOLDEN COMPASS (originally NORTHERN LIGHTS in the UK, same with the bastardisation of Harry Potter’s original PHILOSOPHER’S STONE), had its rough history before making way to the big screen. Turned down, refused, and ignored by many a director, apparently intimidated by its complex subject matter, until Chris Weitz, the helmer of the heartfelt ABOUT A BOY and the raunchy pie-meddling AMERICAN PIE, came to rescue. After all, he read Literature in Cambridge, hence he knows his Wordsworth from Dryden, his Dante from Milton, and in COMPASS, he fully understands the sheer enormity of his task and the intricacy of the tale that he laboriously toned down the book as a mere fantasy-adventure at its core.

Tagged as the pretender to the throne of THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, it’s not a hardcore epic as RINGS was, as COMPASS cavort the whiteness of kid adventure (the subsequent books are much darker, getting rid of all the snowiness). Let’s get this straight: this is no LORD OF THE RINGS, it’s a far cry from that. However, HIS DARK MATERIALS is more intelligent, and this film COMPASS is a good staging for the future events to come.

Centering mainly on Lyra Belacqua’s character, this part encompasses a girl’s free-will in a world of authority and oppression; her feisty, strong-headed, almost stubborn attitude enraptures courage in her to do anything she chose to do, so as soon as she discovers her friend Roger has been kidnapped, she journeys to the icy North in simultaneous events after being given the alethiometer, a truth-measure. She also discovers that the life she lived in Jordan College in Oxford was all a lie. But the world wasn’t as what she supposed to be, the Magisterium ruled with an iron fist and the Oblation Board, spearheaded by Mrs Coulter, kidnaps children for experiment in the North, detaching the daemons from the children to reduce them into citizens bereft of choice and submits into authority without question. Lyra, in her voyage, is joined by gyptians, witches, and a stunning polar bear by the name of Iorek Byrnison, to wage the battle for freedom.

In Pullman’s world, another Oxford parallel to our world, scholars also exist, but here gyptians who are nomads roam the rivers, witches fly in the northern mountains, and talking polar bears sits in throne in the icy pole. Zeppelins soar the air, but most importantly, daemons (pronounced as just demons) co-exist alongside humans as extroverted manifestation of souls, connected to their body counterparts that they are linked by somewhat an invisible thread that can be cut shown in a horrifying scene with the electric guillotine. The other London here in shown in a mixture of old Victorian and at the same time futuristic appeal, a wonderfully designed vista.

Dakota Blue Richards is such a revelatory discovery herself. Being chosen amongst a throng of thousands of girls, she has indeed the spirit of Lyra and satisfyingly done the job like a professional actress. Her presence lights up every scene she’s in, and confidently bearing the whole gravitas of the film in her shoulders. COMPASS is fuelled with great performances too; an impeccable standout is Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter, giving that fiery, fabulous woman of sophistication and class an icy, impenetrable perfection. No other actress could have played the part better with such complexity as the character that when her smile makes us melt and when she gets furious we all feel goosebumps. That scene where she slapped her own daemon, the golden monkey, it’s so genuinely shocking. There are minor appearances too, Daniel Craig for one, whose Lord Asriel will hopefully be given more screen time in the sequel. Eva Green feels comfortable in her part as the witch-queen Serafina Pekkala, and Sam Elliot is born to play the role of the Texan aeronaut, Lee Scoresby. Ian Mckellen, meanwhile, releases his intimidating polar bear in him by lending his voice to the magnificent Iorek Byrnison, sharing that majestic spectacle of a battle with the bear-king Iofur Raknisson, voiced by Ian McShane.

At the end of the day, this is only the first part of the trilogy. Anyone saying that this is anti-Church is blind and deaf; COMPASS is against nothing but oppression from authority and at its very core, promotes children to be receptive and act intelligently, using free-will and courage to face responsibilities and destiny in this world. And anyone scratching their heads from the film’s ending better start scratching their heads more for they are in a more complex ride in the sequels, generating from one of the best written fantasy books of all time.

VERDICT:

Not madly rushed but fast-paced, not blatantly condensed but toned down a wee bit, certainly not your average fantasy flick. Its aesthetic value remains intact. Offering the right amount of momentum that the film deserved, COMPASS doesn’t shy away from being imperfect, as there are indeed flaws, yet it is a film of class, a visionary experience with gorgeous cinematography with the inspiring heroine in Lyra. So who says a battle between polar bears doesn’t look cool?


RATING: A-