Movie Thoughts: The Golden Compass (2007)

• Released: 7 December 2007
• Directed by: Chris Weitz
• Running time: 1 h 53 min
• Rating 4.5/5

Synopsis

In a world parallel to our own where people’s souls live beside them in animal form, an orphan named Lyra inherits a special tool that can make her see the truth. When her best friend Roger gets captured, Lyra sets out on a quest to free him from the group known as the General Oblation Board.

My Thoughts

Much like the first Narnia, this is another childhood fantasy movie I cannot help but love because it got me into the genre in the first place. I don’t quite recall the order in which I watched early 2000s family fantasy movies, but I think it was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - The Golden Compass - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I obviously stopped watching Harry Potter because of the Rowling being a piece of shit (also the quite a few of the HP movies really aren’t that good, if you were to disregard that), but to this day I still very much enjoy Golden Compass and the first Narnia.

This movie basically had what I wanted: steampunk aesthetic, talking animal spirits, traveling rough northern lands, a simple rescue story that’s very effective, and a likable yet flawed protagonist. I just really got into this world and got the first book of the series shortly after.

As an adaptation I think it’s not perfect, far from it even. The whole point of criticizing the catholic church has been watered down immensely. While some references to it are made (the Magisterium, heresies, the Authority, etc.) it was done to the point that I had no idea this movie was actually critical of the church until I read the novel it’s based on. They also obviously had to skip a few story beats/characters because it’s a large journey to cover in under two hours. But I don’t mind that as much, I still think they stuck well to the book in that regard.

The world we get introduced to is very appealing to me (Magisterium aside) and I remember countless times imagining somehow traveling this far north to have similar experiences. I’d honestly still love to visit Svalbard because of this movie, even if it is just to see some pretty scenery. The world is obviously very well-crafted by Pullman, and the movie did a good job of adapting it.

The CGI on the animals holds up pretty well. It has definitely aged a bit, but overall still looks impressive. I particularly like how they handled the daemons shifting seamlessly and of course the polar bear fight, which is very impressive and not done off-screen like in the series adaptation of the first book.

The child acting is pretty good, I especially liked Dakota Blue Richards as the lead role. Of course the adult actors did a great job, and I loved the actors they got for Mrs. Coulter and Lee Scoresby. The voice acting for the animals was also great, especially Ian McKellen as Iorek. I also enjoyed Pan’s voice, though his VA was clearly going through puberty as he sounds deeper in certain parts of the movie, so it’s not completely consistent.

While this is not a perfect adaptation by any means (I think His Dark Materials season 1 objectively does a better job of bringing the book to life), I do prefer this version of the world, it’s much more colorful, steampunk-esque and there’s just more life to it (the series, likely due to budget restraints, has very little demons present in the background). I enjoy both adaptations immensely, but The Golden Compass will forever have a place in my heart for getting me into fantasy.