Review of The Golden Compass (2007) by Hollyc. — 10 Dec 2007

I'm a big fan of the first novel in this trilogy, however I went in w/ lower expectations for the film after reading some initial reviews. I would have to agree w/ a majority of the criticisms --they should have used some of the loads of CG money and funneled it towards a better script, director, editor and score (but really, writing and direction).

I was, in the end, entertained I guess--and it held my interest throughout most of the 2+ hrs--but it's definitely a mess as a whole. Pacing is pretty bad as is the story itself how its adapted. It's definitely going for a Lord of the Rings type adaptation, but falls way, way too short.

The acting is quite good though (compared to say Narnia where the kid actors were wencingly bad) so at least that works. And the momentous Bear-Fight is awesome. But overall, without great writing (er script adaptation) and direction, there's something missing--a little too much eye candy and short on heart I guess.