The Golden Compass has been dubbed a children’s story but the film’s ability to truly charm the heart of anyone may be limited by his or her familiarity with the written version.
In a charming parallel world, witches soar, Ice Bears rule the north and your soul is a daemon that lives by your side in the shape of a representative animal. Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is a mischievous child who is given the responsibility of keeping a mystical truth-telling device. During her journey, Lyra uncovers the evil plans of Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) and discovers the fate of the universe rests in her young hands. With the help of Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) and a group of other unlikely allies, Lyra embarks on an extraordinary quest.
The original story by Philip Pullman is quite intricate and filmmaker Chris Weitz’s need to pare it down to simple, comprehensible essentials leads certain aspects to be omitted or reordered while other elements remain unclear until they are explained in the commentary or one of the many featurettes (like why do we have to separate children from their daemons?). Of course, this confusion only applies to those who have not read the source material.
It’s recommended only very serious fans of the film or the really curious pickup the two-disc edition, as the second disc is more than two-and-a-half hours of detailed, short documentaries exploring the original material, the adaptation, and the incredibly hard work put in to creating such a visually elaborate film.
Imagery à la carte 