Review of The Golden Compass (2007) by Ericc. — 07 Dec 2007

I'm genuinely surprised that this movie is getting as much praise as it is. I really can't stand it. I wanted to walk out of the theater, but stayed because for some reason I couldn't bring myself to leave a sneak preview.

The acting is atrocious, except for Craig, who is only in it for less than 10 minutes. I normally defend Kidman, but this time I just have to shake my head. She's terrible in this. The script doesn't help, either.

There are some lines in this movie where I actually laughed, they were so bad ("War is the sea in which I swim". How is that not funny?). The pacing is also some of the worst I've ever witnessed.

You're rushed through events, not told why people go from loving to hating each other in a heartbeat. They leave no room for any character development whatsoever, so by the big battle scene, you could care less about whether these soulless people live or die.

It's really too bad, since the books are already considered classics, and the subject matter could have been really substantial and thought provoking. The worst part, though, is how this movie, like Eragon before it, tries to be like other fantasy epics, but it can't decide which one it wants to be most.

Some scenes seem stolen from Harry Potter, others from LotR. I'll blame this on direction, since the books are mostly original. In the end, Golden Compass is just a mess led by a poor director using a poor script, and it's a mess that not even a thrilling battle scene can save.

So just wait for that and the part where the bear gets his jaw knocked off to pop up on the internet, so then you can save your money and see everything worth seeing.