THE GOLDEN COMPASS

THE GOLDEN COMPASS DOESN'T KNOW WHICH WAY IS UP
This is a pretty film. It is very, very, very, very pretty. There are some neato CGI effects. They are really, really, really, really neato. Oh, and Nicole Kidman is in this for, about 17 minutes of film, along with Daniel Craig. This film is a combination of Harry Potter meets Narnia, meets Lord of the Rings, meets Star Wars meets the Matrix. Serafina Pekkala: "There are many universes and many Earths parallel to each other. Worlds like yours, where people's souls live inside their bodies, and worlds like mine, where they walk beside us, as animal spirits we call daemons." Blah, blah, blah, blah... Obviously it is an adventure movie with little bits of all the other films tossed in. There is no motivation for the characters. The girl, Lyra, is a young girl, but acts and thinks like a 35 year old. I think they took a life-sized cardboard cutout of Nicole Kidman and just moved it around here and there.

It is a long movie... no, it just seems like a long movie, so much should have been edited. Then there's the ending. As their sky-boat rides into the sunset, Lyra ends with this... "We'll set things right. We will. You, and me, and Iorek, and Serafina Pekkala, and Mr. Scoresby. And my father. We'll set it right, Pan. Just let them try to stop us." That, of course, leads us in to the other films to come, but unlike the referenced films, there is no feeling of closure. A good film should be able to stand alone no matter how many prequels or sequels there are. This was a very, very, very, very terrible film.
NOT a pick: Save your time, not a good plot or characters. Total waste of time.