Fantasy is a genre that is often extremely difficult to pull off well. Primarily, there is a requirement to engage the audience in the unknown – to concepts that do not necessarily relate to the everyday life of the ordinary person. As we are all aware, The Golden Compass is no different. The prequesite requirements for a film of this calibre are always going to be the same things, certainly in this day and age; acting, script, and half-decent computer generated effects. In terms of talent, there is a veritable wealth, with experience of more than two hundred years, a quarter of that lying with Sam Elliot alone! On the subject of Sam Elliot, casting is, generally speaking, entirely correct. The combination of the rugged Southern aesthetic and frankly amazing facial hair provide us with a perfect physical representation of a fantastic character. Daniel Craig continues his role from Casino Royale and L4yer Cake, the cold, suave silent-as-a-grave mystery man that he also seems to have been created for. The same can be said for Nicole Kidman’s Mrs Coulter- beautifully sinister, she carries the role with the poise and inimitability of a master of her art. The sexual energy she radiates in her opening scene was subtly introduced, yet clearly apparent. The mood swings that are almost synonymous with Coulter’s character are perfectly implemented, although maybe contrived at some points, but more on this later.
One-liners, and reaction shots often seem contrived and badly acted by even the most experienced actors (both Daniel Craig and Kidman are guilty as charged within the Golden Compass), and this is certainly no different with Lyra, unfortunately, and this is very much down to both scripting and experience. This is Dakota Blue Richard’s first acting role since the school’s play, which, admittedly, didn’t have 180 million dollars to spend on scripting and training, and sometimes, the fact that The Golden Compass didn’t either shows. For instance, the subject of cogent debate in a certain London Starbucks has been around the name-dropping within the film, and it is a great shame that we only find out Pantalaimon’s name three quarters of the way through the movie with introductions to Lee Scoresby, and yet, Fra Pavel is named within the first ten minutes. However, setting aside the niggles, for the most part the script was competent and fairly accurate to the novels.
Screen time was another issue that was raised within this film. Lord Asriel, as you may well have read in Graham’s review, was given a scene fabricated entirely for the film in order to provide extra screen time- unfortunately, even though he is integral to the plot of the story, he is a supporting actor to the first film, and this really does, unfortunately, show. Lyra’s screen time was the majority of the film, which, as she is the main traveller in the series, should be expected, but Pantalaimon is lacking in the latter stages of the film, for some reason.
Back to Starbucks, however. We have, this very second, realised that Fra Pavel’s dæmon is a green beetle. NOEZ, this can only mean that he will be Lyra’s assassin in the Amber Spyglass. Father Gomez is no more, and this has given us a clear insight into the final film already. A nugget of truth for the readers!
The computer generated imagery within the film has also, as with everything else, very positive and very negative aspects. To begin, the positives. Every individual hair on each and dæmon and animal was rendered separately in a 3-dimensional modeling program, and the attention to detail really does show, clearly where a (possibly unnecessarily) large segment of the budget has been spent. The snow-covered landscapes and gargantuan plains are, frankly, gorgeous- greenscreen has been used to more than the potential any would have thought possible – think Revenge of the Sith, then think better. The battle scene between Iorek and Ragnar is a beautifully choreographed scene, showing off the ability of the graphic team and the storyboard artists – the very essence of a thrilling battle was captured perfectly, however there are yet more plot holes to be found with the Iorek’s gammy left-paw (which seems to get injured and fixed for no apparent reason). However, greatest of all, Ragnar falls to the ground with the most satisfying thud in cinema today (raising a cheery round of applause from a Colonial watcher before I cast A Look at them). Even so, it occasionally overshadows the live-action of the scene- there are some instances in which the computer graphics just make a scene unbelievable, tying in with the sci-fi aspects of the film. The technology, for the most part, resides in the 18th/19th Century styles, from horse-and-cart-esque carriages and zeppelins, but with a definite segregation from the technological advancement of the world we know. For instance, and slightly unbelievably, there are rather pretty yet inexplicable gyroscope-drives on most powered objects. They have serious gadget-value, but are as believable as Bond’s disappearing Aston. However, the scenes in which the carts appear are more than forgiven for having, in truth, a breathtaking Final Fantasy-style cityscape. There is a shot, available in the pre-release videos, of Lyra and Mrs Coulter staring out of the front of a zeppelin; awesome in the first pre-release stills, but in the film, the glass reflects so much of the cityscape behind the camera that it just seems plastic. The impression of a cheap set is, in fact, given by the overusage of computer imagery.
Overall, the film gives a very impressive insight into the world of Lyra and the human dæmon reaction – there are many instances in which what could be a zoo remains a subtle reference. There’s a great risk, in any film that involves both people and animals, that what could be a serious scene would fast become a farce rather quickly. However, the direction of the scenes involving both dæmons and people remains carefully choreographed and the subtlety remains. Although there are many things that avid readers would like to see changed, the film does what it set out to do – it is, for the most part, a faithful adaption, with good reasoning behind the majority of the changes, and although there are some minor moments, the film is, in this review, quite impressive.
The credit sequence, however, is an entirely different story. Listing the cast and crew is one of the most important parts of a film &nash; many an hour is lost within the various subtitles trying to find the one man you see through the window in scene seven, and if we are going to be given a list of the full production team, can we please have music that won’t drive us to suicide? The song entitled Lyra, namesaked for our heroine, is one of the most self-absorbed and painfully drawn out moments of musical incompetence I have ever had the misfortune to encounter. While, in many instances, Kate Bush music is an enjoyable experience, we must give thought to what this could mean should it be in another film:
“Where are our lives, if there is no dream
Where is our home? We don’t know how
There will be a way out of the storm
We will find home
And Hermione walks beside him!
And Ron stands behind him!
Harry...
Harry... And his face
Full of space...
Two worlds collide around him...
Wizarding lies deep inside him...
Harry...
Harry... And Snape looks down upon him
The Dark Arts settle on him...
Harry...
Harry... Who’s to know
What’s in the future?
Every hope will be whispered
We have all our spells to give him
Harry...
Harry...
Harry
And Hermione walks beside him!
And Ron stands behind him!
Harry...
Harry... And his face
Full of space...
Two worlds collide around him...
Wizarding lies deep inside him...
Harry...
Harry...
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