The Golden Compass

UK Release: 5th December 2007

Watched on Recorded TV: Wednesday 18th January 2012

Rating: PG

Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Runtime: 1hr 53mins

Tagline: There are worlds beyond our own - the compass will show the way.

IMDb Plot Synopsis: In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organisation.

My Review: I wanted to like this film, I really did - but it was just a bit too mediocre . As my mum said, it was too knowing, it was far too full of itself which was evident in the ending, which clearly expected a sequel (which didn’t come) as it was left on a rather anti-climatic cliffhanger. 

When it gets down to it the film suffered from a lack of likeable characters: other than young Lyra and a CGI polar bear. Daniel Craig, who is puffed up to me one of the leads is barely in it at all and Nicole Kidman was too cold. The whole thing had a gloss that was hard to penetrate. It was just too unrealistic, and whilst I understand it is a fantasy film, there has to be a human element in their somewhere and it was too over done for my liking. 

In fact I think the only thing I can say for The Golden Compass is that the CGI was done pretty well and the worlds were portrayed beautifully. 

I particuarly enjoyed the polar beat fighting and, for a CGI fight, it got pretty tense and exciting: it was far more exciting that the supposed climatic battle near the end! 

So overall, if you enjoy fantasy films and good special effects then this is the film for you, but if you prefer something deeper with fully fleshed characters and realistic drama then you’ll be sadly disappointed. I suggest reading the books instead!

Score: 7/10