The Golden Compass

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Andrew L The polar bear is the only likeable character in this film. That alone should tell you something. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/17/24 Full Review Audience Member its a poor trilogy of a great book. Does not deserve more than 2 stars Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/05/24 Full Review Adam P I think this is very good Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/24 Full Review Katerina M It is a wonderful movie which kept my children and me entertained a few times already. It is just as well made as Harry Potter. I wish they continue with the entire trilogy! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/26/23 Full Review Audience Member After 15 years this was a good try even if it did end up failing so quickly Adapted from His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman it centers on witches, pirates, magic, talking animals, and religion starring Daniel Craig, Eva Greene, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot, the late Christopher Lee, and Ian McKellan Dust is sacred to many of the inhabitants of this alternate earth where everyone has a spirit animal (daemons) that talks If the spirit animal dies the human lives but if the human dies so does the spirit The focus is on a girl named Lyra played by Dakota Blue Richards A powerful ruler called the Majesterium or a pseudo-Catholic Church in a reality that never enjoyed the benefits of the Reformation is after an item called the Golden Compass that points to wherever the holder needs to go and Lyra is given the compass which makes her run away Lyra will need the help of her daemon, armored bears, witches, and pirates to solve the compass's mystery and stop the Majesterium The dust particle itself in this story threatens all the strict teachings of everyone who mentions it, it's deemed blasphemous since it brings up alternate universes without rulers The film has a cool steampunk feeling to it along with some impressive CGI and I enjoyed the fantasy aspect It's insanely violent in parts It had an impeccable cast, too plus the daemons act out the humans and their inner turmoil The issues however stem from director Chris Weitz having so much cliched dialogue and exposition in here but it does come together near the end There's lots of stuff in here about religious heresy which of course isn't surprising since this movie offended the Roman Catholic Church Freethinking, heretics, and putting aside centuries of teachings because of new discoveries are many of the main elements the story attempts to tackle Much of the movie's controversy from religion and authority as well as the source material killed a potential franchise This also tried to follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings Plus this script is unfortunately crammed with so much stuff it barely leaves enough room for the characters to be developed Even if the movie is considered an underperformer it did help necessitate New Line Cinema’s absorption into the Warner Bros. Discovery plus The tv series thankfully did a much better job adapting these books so it wasn't all for nothing Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/08/23 Full Review D D Fun movie. Normally not the type of film I would like...but I enjoyed this one. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Golden Compass

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