(2007) Expecting a first-class feast of many delectable delights for my hungry yet discerning imagination, I was disappointed when served flashy fast-food, high-calorie film fare, offering a limited taste experience with inferior nutritional value. Too much happens too quickly without sufficient character development. It was a date with a handsome but hollow celebrity; a gorgeously wrapped gift package with bows, bells, and whistles but nothing exceptional inside.

Chris Weitz directed and wrote the screenplay for this controversial though much diluted adaptation from Philip Pullman's novel, Northern Lights, the first book of his trilogy; unfortunately Tom Stoppard's treatment was scrapped. If unsuccessful at the box office, with the Catholic League doing its best to discourage attendance, especially children (fearful they may want to read the books), the remaining two volumes of His Dark Materials probably won't become cinema. No great loss, though, if they'd be no better than this.

At the film's opening we are given to understand that we are about to enter one of the many parallel multiverses that comprise creation, all of which are connected by Dust. In this particular universe, which shares similarities with the Edwardian period in England (though some of the fanciful modes of transportation such as the wooden airships are otherworldly), each person is accompanied by his/her daemon (animal spirit).

A pre-adolescent orphan girl, Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards), the niece of Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), and her shape-shifting daemon Pantalaimon, come into possession of the sole remaining Alethiometer or golden compass with which only one privileged person (the child of whom the witches prophesied) can "glimpse things as they are," see what others wish to hide, answer any question, determine the truth.

Having discovered evidence of Dust, Lord Asriel goes on an expedition alone to the North. "That's heresy," says a member of the Magisterium. "That's truth," answers Lord Asriel, whom they've already attempted to poison. If Lord Asriel proves the existence of other worlds, then the dogma of the Magisterium (read here "Holy Church") will be vulnerable, no less than if more highly evolved intelligent beings were to arrive on our planet or spirits return from death with a different explanation than Christianity has to offer.

With Lord Asriel away, Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman) borrows the adventurous Lyra with her Pan on an air voyage north, explaining to the curious girl that the Magisterium keeps the ball rolling by telling people what to do. But the contumacious Lyra raises suspicions and a reprimand never to speak of "Dust" again when she mentions "dust" in connection with particle physics.

An agent of the Magisterium, Mrs Coulter has charge of the Goblers, child thieves, who have captured two of Lyra's playmates, Roger (Ben Walker) and Billy Costa (Charlie Rowe), for their program of Indecision. After Mrs Coulter becomes aware of Lyra's having possession of the golden compass, attempting to steal it away, the intrepid Lyra escapes, gets caught but rescued by Billy's mother, joins the chiefs of the Egyptian families aboard a sea ship headed north, gets attacked by spy flies, is visited by the lovely witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) seeking her former lover Farder Coram (Tom Courtenay), and meets the Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) who introduces her to Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), the ice bear who pledges his courage and life to Lyra after she helps him recover his armor.

Then things really take off with combat between Iorek and his rival Ragnar Sturlusson, king of the ice bears; games of deception; and a big battle. But it's too many characters with too much going on without enough suspense in less then two hours.

In the end Serafina tells Scoresby that the Magisterium intends to control everyone in every world while on Iorek Byrnison's back the fearless Lyra says on her way to find Lord Asriel: "We'll set things right." If you don't read the books, you may never know.

I recommend an article in the December issue of The Atlantic by Hanna Rosin, "How God Saved Hollywood," describing the unmaking of this film.

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 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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