I didn't know it was based on a book. I didn't even know it was going to be several movies based on a trilogy. On that note I was a true “tabula rasa” and I think that was a good thing.The Movie isn’t bad at all, actually it’s a good movie but I kept thinking to myself that there was a lot that was suppose to be there that they didn’t show me, which explains it if there is a book involved. I thought to myself that it was like watching the Harry Potter movies, something’s you were just suppose to know beforehand to get the complete picture. This is of course unfortunate when they make a movie based on books, I believe that you should be able to just watch the movie as a good movie without missing the book, yes it’s very hard but I cannot believe it’s impossible.
The actors are of course well known, respected and well, good. I’m no fan of Nicole Kidman myself but I like her in this movie actually. She shows the nature of her character in a very clear but cunning way. The one I’m impressed with is Dakota Blue Richards, she is really superb! I believe in the character, I feel with her and that is what makes the movie watchable.
The Plot:
First we meet Lyra, a little girl with a strong mind bur very clever, and her daemon, Pan. A daemon is a person’s animal follower, as they say it in the movie; a person’s soul. If the human dies the daemon dies and if the daemon is hurt so is the human. They are linked together. Almost immediately you understand that there are bigger forces on the move and we learn about the golden compass, Dust and the different peoples of the world. The world is made out of Dust but the Magistrate doesn’t want people to know about it. With the proper knowledge about Dust and the golden compass you can travel to other worlds, parallel universes. The Magistrate wants to travel to these worlds and dominate them all but only one can read and understand the compass and that is of course Lyra. Some people want the compass, some want Lyra. She gets the compass and begins to run…
So it’s not a great movie, but it’s not a bad movie. It’s a movie that I recommend to the people who read books and to others who like fantasy and/or adventure. The effect’s are well done and doesn’t overwhelm the plot like in some fantasy inspired movies. A bit messy sometimes, a bit stressed, a few bits and pieces missing but overall a good movie. I found the idea of daemons the most interesting so it’s not hard to understand that I went to the movie’s website and did a “who is your daemon” test. Apparently my daemon’s name is Erasmus and he is a black crow.
