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'Golden Compass' Is Cold To The Touch

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By CHRISTY LEMIRE, The Associated Press

Published: December 6, 2007

Nicole Kidman's presence in the elaborate fantasy flick "The Golden Compass" is emblematic of the movie itself: aesthetically lush but ultimately cold to the touch.

This adaptation of the first novel in British writer Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy has some fanciful moments but never achieves the sense of awe-inspiring wonder of the "Lord of the Rings" films, to which comparisons will be inevitable. It's also probably too scary for a lot of kids, with its themes of totalitarianism and mind control; adults, meanwhile, may find it hard to take seriously, despite how seriously it takes itself.

Writer-director Chris Weitz ("About a Boy") takes on the biggest project of his life with this CGI-filled spectacle, which he also had to cram with tons of exposition to set up a potential series.

The whole thing is a bit of a drag, even given the sprightly energy of our heroine, 12-year-old orphan Lyra Belacqua, played by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards.

Lyra lives as a ward of the prestigious Jordan College and enjoys spending her afternoons prowling about, looking for trouble with best pal Roger (Ben Walker). Then one day she receives from the headmaster the last remaining golden compass - a device that provides the true answer to any question - and must use it to find other children who've been abducted by a government body that wants to rid them of free will.

She gets her chance once she meets Kidman's Marisa Coulter, the world traveler with obviously nefarious plans who befriends Lyra and whisks her away in a zeppelin-style flying machine to the snowy north. With her icy features, Kidman oozes old-school Hollywood glamour, and her entrance in a glittering, form-fitting gold gown is a stunner.

Also along for the ride is Lyra's animal companion Pantalaimon (voiced by Freddie Highmore), her own personal "daemon," which everyone has. It's a furry manifestation of a human being's soul, which feels all the same pains and joys and thinks the same thoughts.

Once she escapes the wicked Coulter's clutches, Lyra finds an eclectic mix of allies in a traveling band known as the Gyptians. She also befriends Texas aviator Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott, who could do this in his sleep), the good witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) and an enormous and enormously misunderstood bear, Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen). Yes, it's all as complicated as it sounds.

Someone we don't see enough of, though, is Daniel Craig as Lyra's uncle, Lord Asriel. Craig is woefully underused as an explorer and scientist who believes there's some sort of dust floating around that connects us to parallel universes - but by investigating this discovery, he puts himself in danger.

MOVIE REVIEW

The Golden Compass *½

MOVIE BOARD RATING: PG-13 (sequences of fantasy violence)

STARS: Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott, Daniel Craig, Eva Green

DIRECTOR: Chris Weitz

LOCATION: See movie times, Page 8, for local showtimes.

PLOT SUMMARY: A young girl travels to a parallel universe to rescue kidnapped children.

RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes

ON THE WEB: goldencompassmovie.com

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