The Golden Compass

Running Time: 118 minutes

Rated: PG-13

Director: Chris Weitz

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig

Instead of a cast of thousands, The Golden Compass has a crew of thousands. I know because I sat through the roster to verify that it was indeed Kate Bush singing the song “Lyra.” The film is gorgeous: wonderful graphics, particularly with the cityscapes, the daemons, and the panserbjorne, the armored ice bears. Some of the acting is also quite good. That being said, I did not enjoy the film thoroughly, because decisions were made to keep things nice for a kid friendly rating, and these PC moments palpably weakened the story. Worse, numerous portions of the book’s storyline were changed, sometimes radically, sometimes chronologically, and sometimes pointlessly for unnecessary ‘heightened drama.’

I hadn’t read the book when I saw the film, so I was unaware of these sins of omission and commission until I asked the young persons in attendance with me their opinions. I was expecting paeans and eulogies, and was surprised by their reactions. They were outspoken and loud in their displeasure. They supplied me with explanations of how very, very bad the movie was compared to the book. In full cry they detailed the enormity of the discrepancies for me. I inferred that they felt about this movie the way I felt about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie: every departure from the book jarred and felt like a betrayal. I was intrigued to find out that all the moments that I thought were weak were instances of departure.

So now I am reading the book, and I love it. I still recommend the movie, but it seems to me that filmmakers should really consult a group of avid kids who have actually read and loved a book before deciding to ‘improve’ on it. - Chris Paige