Review of The Golden Compass (2007) by Rafael M — 14 Jan 2019

The Golden Compass. The movie that had people asking New Line Cinema the ultimate question: "Why even bother greenlighting the movie if you're too afraid to go all the way with regards to its source material's controversy?" To the movie's credit, the performances are good, the effects are decently rendered and there was a brutal polar bear fight that I actually found enjoyable.

But that isn't enough to save The Golden Compass from being softer than the book leading to the eventual downfall of New Line before restructuring and eventually merging with Warner Bros., not helped by the poor pacing and just being downright boring.

There's nothing here that hasn't already been seen in the likes of Lord of the Rings, Narnia or Harry Potter. I feel sorry for poor Chris Weitz, since New Line were too big scaredy cats to let him adapt this controversial series faithfully, leading to a movie I think was indirectly responsible for slowly killing non-Harry Potter themed children's fantasy.