Opening amidst a cloud of controversy, The Golden Compass, the first installment of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, is an oddly-paced and thoroughly underwhelming film. While it strives to be as engrossing as the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia series, the end result is more reminiscent of something like Eragon. Even a solid cast led by Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, and Ian McKellen can’t elevate a potentially intriguing storyline above its surprisingly lame special effects and uninteresting characters.

Twelve-year old Lyra Belacqua (Richards) is a headstrong, thrill-seeking ward of Jordan College. Like every other person in the film, Lyra is shadowed by a “daemon,” an animal spirit that mirrors the soul. Fittingly, Lyra’s is a cat. (We learn, though, that children’s “daemons” can morph and take shape of different animals. Only later in life do these spirits solidify into one animal and, thus, establish the personality of the individual.) Lyra is also gifted (or cursed depending how look at it) as the only person who can interpret the meaning of a truth-telling golden compass called an alethiometer.

It is this gift of truth that is a threat to the oppressive regime of the Magisterium, a cabal of old, grim-looking white guys clad in clerical robes. The Magisterium is described as a “power that fears any truth but their own” and frowns upon any sort of enlightenment, freedom of thought, or action that is contrary to their own dogma—we are not told exactly what it is they believe, though. The Magisterium enlists the help of the elegant, but creepy, Marisa Coulter (Kidman), who befriends Lyra and accompanies her on a journey to the frozen north. Coulter’s true motives and intentions are revealed as Lyra’s gift becomes apparent. Lyra is even given the knowledge of an element called “dust”—which is the source of life and the link between our world and many other alternate universes. Surely, the Magisterium reasons that this little one “knows” too much and must be snuffed out.

Lyra encounters and joins forces with a large white “ice bear” (who looks identical to those Coke drinking polar bears we see in the commercials!), voiced by the imposing McKellen. Together, along with a group of strange-looking nomads called Gyptians, battle is waged as the Magisterium fights for its goal against freedom of thought and individualism.

The end result is ho-hum. While films like the LOTR series invoke feelings of awe and splendor in their visual beauty and powerful narrative, Compass ends up falling flat on its face in its failure to engage on both fronts. Even an open-ended conclusion is not enough to whet the appetite for a possible second and third installment. As Lyra optimistically looks to the future and says “we’ll set things right,” we can only hope that she is correct—if the studio gives this franchise another chance.

Continue: 1 2