The Golden Compass

I'm in a rush so a quick review of what is hopefully the first film of the His Dark Materials trilogy.

I have been looking forward to the release of the film for quite some time as I am a fan of the novels though I haven't read them recently enough to become too nit-picky over adherence to the source material.

I saw it yesterday and overall I enjoyed it though it is far from being perfect.

The main problem the film has is how much it is trying to fit in with just under 2 hours of running time. Most of the scenes are absolutely excellent, but there is no room to breathe between them.

We are here, then we are there where something happens and then we are somewhere else where something happens and no time to breathe or foreshadow properly is taken.

Another problem this compression of the story causes is that there are a couple of moments of very heavy handed exposition that feel clumsy and forced which really undermines the ending in particular.

The acting is excellent, with Daniel Craig a natural as the roguish gent Asriel, Derek Jacobi superb as always playing the twisted head of the Magestirium and Sam Elliott could quite possibly read a menu and hold an audience in rapture.

Dakota Blue Richards' performance is what the The Golden Compass hangs on and she is charming and mischievous without the cloying sentimentality that could have ruined the heart of the film.

Nicole Kidman is perhaps the one underwhelming performance and while she is competent she is a little one-note and lacking in depth with her portrayal of Miss Coulter (a character that reminds me of Lady De Winter from the Musketeers stories), her inner conflict being more effectively portrayed by the superb special effects in one scene.

The daemons are wonderfully realised and are particularly effecting in the case of Lyra's companion who's pain and fear no matter what animal it is in the form of are palpable.

Also fantastically realised is the imposing figure of Iorek Byrnison (voiced with aplomb by Sir Ian McKellan) who's journey to redemption is another plot that is truncated but the resultant battle to regain his pride is just stunning.

I really think if this film had an extra 20 minutes to allow the characters to develop, the narrative to flow more organically and avoid some exposition, this could have been one of the films of the year.

As it is it is still entertaining and I would still be happy to see a sequel.