Ketrivie
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
SeeQuant
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Mihai Toma
In a world where parallel universes coexisted, bounded by dust, a young girl and her daemon travel north to discover the faith of children kidnapped by a secret and mysterious organization. Along the way, she makes new friends but also enemies which try, at all cost, to get her Golden Compass, a device which tells the truth to anyone who can read it.We're presented a fantastic world, full of interesting creatures and characters, who play their decisive part in the outcome of the final battle which is to come. Although it leaves room for a sequel, its finale is a bit lame and unconvincing. The story itself is nothing groundbreaking but good overall, unfortunately failing to keep my attention throughout its entire length. I was also disappointed by the fact that Daniel Craig, although present on the poster, appears for brief and rare moments, having no implication in the outcome of the movie while Nicole Kidman's character isn't as determined to complete its job as I hoped.It turned out to be an average movie although its cast and plot suggested it can be much more than that.
Eric Stevenson
This is a movie based on a book in a series known as "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman. The book has garnered some controversy because Pullman explicitly made the book out to be anti-religious. From what I know, the anti-religious stuff was downplayed in this film version. I guess you could compare him to Douglas Adams and his Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy books, another anti-religious writer. Of course, his movie was certainly better than this. I could get a couple anti-religious vibes in this. It did talk about skepticism and heretics, but only briefly.The movie's main fault is that it came across as pretty silly to me. What happened is that these people are trying to stop these other people from discovering magic dust that proves the existence of other worlds. Yeah, it's a really goofy sounding premise. It takes place in this world where everyone has a shapeshifting creature or "daemon". Maybe if I read the books, I could comprehend it better. The movie often suffers from really bad CGI. Everything looks pretty fake. I still thought the actors were quite good. There really was an all star cast here with Christopher Lee and Sam Elliot. I wish they were in the movie more! Oh wait, Christopher Lee was in every movie back then. Besides, "Lord Of The Rings" was pro-religious. Maybe fans of the book were disappointed that it wasn't more anti-religious? I just thought it was a movie that wasn't that well acted with kind of a silly story. It seems like everyone is against religion nowadays. Hey, a lot of people hate my reviews regardless of my beliefs, which I don't really discuss anyway. I really did like this movie's pacing as literally half of it was them at the North Pole, which the first half set up. It's hard to go wrong with armor clad polar bears too. **1/2
Python Hyena
The Golden Compass (2007): Dir: Chris Weitz / Cast: Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green: Adventure about guidance as a golden compass is thrust into the possession of a young girl. Interesting directing choice for Chris Weitz after directing About a Boy and the dreadful Down to Earth. He has managed to switch up genres while keeping his resume semi interesting. Exciting and adventurous that turns to constant action within the third act. Dakota Blue Richards does well as the young lead holding her own against her much more famous co-stars as well as the exquisite special effects surrounding her. She plays off intelligence in the face of adult adversary. Nicole Kidman plays an enchanting seductress named Mrs. Coulter whose downfall was underestimating Richards. Daniel Craig is featured as Richards' uncle in what is mostly a standard role but Craig rises above it. Sam Elliott also rises above conventions as a Texan who flies a plane. He leads Richards to an armored polar bear where she seeks help but first she must witness a massive battle between two of the polar warriors. Eva Green plays a witch queen, which is not much of a stretch from her usual roles. Pointless and often corny with animal companions that seem to double as souls. Weird storytelling but the visual elements are tremendous and render the compass a worthwhile adventure. Score: 7 ½ / 10
Davis P
The Golden Compass is definitely a weak movie adaptation. The special effects and the visuals are great, I loved the visuals! But that seems to be all the film cares about, it doesn't seem like they cared about a good plot, good writing, or good dialogue. I felt like Daniel Craig was kinda out of place in this movie, I didn't really think he was the correct choice for his role. Although I did think that Nicole Kidman was good in her role, I enjoyed her as mrs coulter. The main child actress was pretty good in her role, sweet and innocent. I will say this, the Oscar win was well deserved for the special effects. But unfortunately that's the only good think about the golden compass, that and Nicole Kidman. Other than that, there's just nothing special or good about this movie. And the ending was a huge cliffhanger and a wtf kinda moment. And we aren't even getting a sequel, so that's disappointing as well. 3/10.
