Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Golden Compass
2007
**
Director: Chris Weitz
Cast: Dakota Blue Richards, Freddie Highmore, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Jim Carter, Tom Courtenay, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane

Someone is abducting the local children, including the best friend of an orphan girl Lyra Belacqua. Accompanied by a magical golden compass, she goes on a formative journey which leads her to the root of this mystery. In the first novel of the His Dark Materials trilogy Philip Pullman takes his time to reveal the details of the parallel universe and the twists of the plot as Lyra slowly makes her way up north. Chris Weitz, on the other hand, kicks off the film with a LOTR-like intro which explains all the main concepts (dæmon, dust, alethiometer etc.), and he continues the same dumb it down approach for the remaining 100 minutes. In the end the story feels terribly rushed, the toned down danger feels unthreatening, and Lyra's long journey lacks any sense of discovery. The action scenes are nicely made and the visuals are predictably impressive. Especially Iorek Byrnison, the armoured polar bear, is an inspired creation. This adaptation wasn't a big hit, so the remaining novels, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, may never be filmed.