watching movies one cup at a time

I don’t care what anyone says, I liked this movie. I heard a lot of smack being talked about it around the time of it’s release. Everyone was making a big deal about it’s $180 million dollar budget and how it was going to bomb and ruin the filmmakers. There was a lot of talk as well about some supposed controversy surrounding the original novels that the story is based on and how that was going to sink the movie. Well I say nonsense. The movie was good and in my opinion it was a helluva lot better than Narnia, which everyone seems to get all crazy about.

The Golden Compass is based on a trilogy of books by Phillip Pullman. I haven’t read the books but from what I have been hearing in the discussions of this film is that a central themes to the books is an anti-organized religion stance as characters stand up to an oppressive governing religious institution. Of course dogmatically religious people can’t stand to have anyone tell stories that may criticize them so of course these books are condemned by zealots and thus an attack was made on the movie as well. The movie studio has even gone as far as to make it clear to everyone that they “toned down” the religious aspects of the story. More like “watered down.” But on the other side, ardent fans of the books are crying foul, saying that the movie is ruining the power of the story by blunting it’s edge. Consequently you have two sides to an argument and neither wants to see the movie. Not a good sign for a movie that has $180 million invested in it.

The whole reason this movie and others like it are getting made is because of the success of the Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter movies. Especially Lord of The Rings paved the way for fantasy films like this to make a surge as prolific authors get their worked snapped up in hopes of a new franchise. Unfortunately nothing has really taken hold of the public interest in the same way the LOTR did. One exception however has been the Chronicles of Narnia, which to a degree is like LOTR for kids/young adults. And with it’s large series of Narnia books, this is a franchise that could last longer than Harry Potter.

But do you remember who the movie studio courted when Narnia was about to be released? They reached out to Christian organizations in hopes of sparking a Passion Of The Christ-like grassroots campaign. They spread the idea that the story had veiled references to the resurrection of Jesus and was a good, wholesome movie for Christians. And now what comes along? The Golden Compass with it’s friendly witches, talking bears, anamorphic soul representations called “demons,” and a very strong anti-authoritarian, pro-freedom theme. Resurrected lion king/saviors? nope. Arrow shooting gypsies fighting along side strong, flying witches? You got it! And if I have to choose a side in that debate, sign me up with the rockin’ gypsy witch army!

Aside from all that, the movie is very well done and very well acted. Dakota Blue Richards plays the central character of Lyra and she is seriously phenomenal. I can’t picture anyone else in that role now, there were so many scenes where she just nailed it. And the character is very bold and intelligent girl that should be a role model for any young woman. Which is probably another thing patriarchal dogma holds against this film. Dakota Blue Richards rocks!

Daniel Craig is really only briefly in this film but he is perfect. And this is Nicole Kidman’s best role in a LONG time (Bewitched? Really, Nicole?). It’s funny because I just saw her and Daniel in The Invasion last week. And while the movie was okay, there wasn’t anything anywhere near as interesting for them to dig into as this film.

The look of the movie is spectacular as well. It’s meant to be in a “parallel world” from ours so there are similarities to what we are used to but everything has a great “retro-futuristic” vibe to it. It’s all very lush and packs a lot of style.

The story doesn’t end with this film. Like the early Lord of The Rings films, the movie ends at a stopping point but there is much more story to be told. Several plot points remain unresolved. And what is really annoying is that there is a chance the sequels will not get made since the film underperformed at the box office. And that sucks because I want to see the sequels! And I don’t want them watered down either. The director, Chris Weitz, says that he is planning on having more of the book’s message in there in the sequels which is a good. Any Christian that wants to protest or condemn this film should really just chill out. Artists should be free to write stories and make films that challenge our beliefs in a respectful way. And I saw nothing in The Golden Compass that should offend anyone or be considered disrespectful.

So overall I gotta say I like this much more than Narnia and I really hope the sequels get made. It’s a good film that did not deserve the roasting it got around the time of it’s release.