A beautiful film, especially if you've read the book.
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DEC
11
2007
New Line Cinema chose to rename the evil organization "The Magisterium," a change from the trilogy where the author, Philip Pullman, labels the organization as "the Church." Also, each person in this world is accompanied by an animal spirit called a "daemon" which is a physical embodiment of their soul. These daemons are not evil. Christian parents should be prepared to talk about terminology and the dangers of "spirit worship" and demons. Other than that this movie has much to recommend it. The main character, Lyra, shows great courage and loyalty. She sometimes lies or resorts to trickery (in her defence, that trickery is to gain a greater good); thus making an excellent opportunity to discuss ethics. The Magisterium is a wonderful example of the dangers of dogmatism and authoritarianism.
The movie itself is visually breathtaking. The "retro-futuristic" look captures the feel of Pullman's book. Perhaps my main critique of the movie is that the pace is quite fast and somewhat choppy in spots. There is a great deal of material to cover, and the filmmakers tried to do it all justice. I have to wonder if I had not read the book would I have been able to follow the plot. My wife, who has not read the book, was able to gather most of the plot, but she did have several questions. The ending of the movie seemed very abrupt. We all know the story continues in the next book, but the movie goes from its dramatic climax in a huge battle/rescue scene to the credits in just a very few minutes. One wonders if the book's ending would have been a better choice. The movie cut a final segment (with the author's agreement) to move it to the next film, leaving this film (in my opinion) somewhat truncated.
Overall, I would recommend The Golden Compass for families with tweens and teens. Despite the problematic areas, the story is rousing and enjoyable. Our church youth group plans to see the movie and have a discussion on some of the points raised afterward.
The Golden Compass is recommended by revcrab
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