December 9, 2007 -- “The Golden Compass” is a big high-budget epic fantasy film aimed at kids. It is good entertainment with plenty of action and interesting characters. Best of all the main character is a young girl who gets by on intelligence and courage. What's not to like? Well the Catholic Church has urged a boycott of this film because it is based on books written by an atheist. The actual film, however, is not anti-Christian, but rather anti-authoritarian.

Now who would be opposed to a film that advocates thinking for yourself (especially women and children) and having the courage to explore new frontiers? I guess some male-dominated institutions are threatened by ideas about women and children that challenge authority. Well boo hoo for the poor little insecure Catholic Church. Perhaps instead of boycotting the movie, the church should advocate burning the books by Philip Pullman on which it is based, since the books are really what is bugging the church. Atheists are also upset with the film since it waters down the anti-Christian aspect of the books to the point where it is ambiguous. You can't blame New Line studios for doing that. After all, there are very few atheists and over a billion Christians. Nobody, but a few atheists and a few purist devotees of the book are going to care if you muddle the theology a bit. In short, the mini controversy over this movie is a tempest in a teapot.

The main character of the Golden Compass is the spunky lass Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards). She is the sort of headstrong girl who gives authority figures fits because she doesn't always believe what she's told and she's a prankster. She inexplicably acquires a golden compass, a kind of magical machine that can answer questions. Most don't have the power to use it, but Lyra does. Lyra quickly becomes the target of Marisa Coulter (Any relation to Ann Coulter? Played by Nicole Kidman of “Margot at the Wedding”), a powerful agent for the Magesterium, a mysterious organization which rules this strange world. This is not our world. There are talking animals, strange devices, and every human being is accompanied by a sort of familiar spirit called a daemon. The daemons are tied to them by a psychic connection so that if the daemon is injured, then so is the person they are attached to. If the person is killed, the daemon dies too, and, I presume, vice versa. Marisa Coulter's daemon, for instance, is a monkey and Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig of “Casino Royale”), Lyra's uncle, has a daemon which looks like a large snow leopard. Children's daemons like Lyra's can shape shift, turning into a variety of creatures like ferrets, cats, mice and bugs, because the children's personalities are not stable yet.

Lyra is nearly captured by Magisterium agents, but is rescued by agents of the Gyptians, who are sort of like Gypsies. Other groups are scholars, witches and armored polar bears. A plot is uncovered in which Magisteria are experimenting on children, trying to separate them from their daemons. This is taking place at a secret experimental station in the far north. Lyra and Gyptians head there to rescue the children, particularly Lyra's friend, Roger (Ben Walker). Using her magic compass, the party finds a couple of valuable allies, a cowboy airman, Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) and an armored bear, Iorek Byrnison. Together, they head off to rescue the missing children and to find Lord Asriel who is off in the north looking for some magic “dust” which can act as a portal between parallel universes. Apparently the Magesterium says there are no other universes, but it secretly wants to control them all.

The characters in the film are interesting and the story moves along at a fairly good pace. There is a cliffhanger at the end, naturally. The studio wants to turn the other two books in the series into films. The other two books, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass are part of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy. While this is no “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, it is entertaining and I will be looking for the next film in the series. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .