The (Dented) Golden Compass

Most of my colleagues & I have watched controversial movie, The Golden Compass (which scored only a rotten 44% on Rotten Tomatoes) as of today.

We had a round of discussion & reviews, and the average rating given was about 6 out of 10 points (based on 14 persons' opinions), which was quite different from what the critics gave in Rotten Tomatoes. While this movie and the series of books it was based on are regarded negatively as 'anti-Christian" and "anti-Church", here's my colleagues and I (of differerent race, creed and religion) felt:

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Damien (me):

I'll give a 4 out of 10 rating (revised from 5) for the movie:

• None of the main characters were likeable for a kid-oriented movie... esp. Lyra. Even Lord
• Asrael comes across as a jerk. Only Ma Costa ("Billy's mum") was ok, but she ain't a main character.
• Contradiction about 'truth': the alternative to being told what to do by the Magisterium is.... to be told the 'truth' by a golden 'ouija board'? Geez. What powers these golden compasses anyway?
• Logical / continuity annoyances, e.g.
  - I didn't know alcoholism was so easy to get over. I thot the icebear Iorek Byrnison should at least join ABBA (Alcoholic Bum Bears Anonymous) to overcome his addiction to whisky. I think the icy place is near the equivalent of Sweden....
  - Flying witches took a longer time to arrive at the battlefield than those on foot or airship. (as one of you pointed out)
  - If humans treat daemons like pets, does it mean there are no real animals / pets in the movie? Even the carriages are powered by the magic spheres, so no horse is needed. Why isn't there any large daemon like an elephant or a horse?
  - Why didn't anyone shoot or try to attack the daemons in battle? Aren't they easier to harm, as demonstrated at the start of the movie ?
  - If daemons are clearly visible to other humans, won't it be tough for baddies to mask their true nature? Who would listen to a Magister or scientist who has a cockroach or a snake as a daemon? Oh come on....
  
• The slogan-chanting scenes by the good guys (with the close shots of their determined faces
  - Lord Asrael, the Gypsian lord and Lyra) were cringe-inducing. Felt like I was watching an old propaganda movie. There are many other movies/books that deal with this anti-
  establishment theme but in a more acceptable manner, e.g. Star Wars.
• Christopher Lee's cameo was a disappointent... esp. when he looked like Count Dooku from Star Wars.

What I did like about the movie:

• The 'soft' power of the Magisterium (so few troops?) over the masses and the veneer Mrs Coulter exudes while threatening Lyra. Scarier than the Sith Lords in Star Wars.
• Creative anarchronism - mixing Victorian/cowboy elements with high-tech (the airships & cars) and meta-physical pseudo-science (splitting soul from ppl) was interesting.
• The need to frame one's questions very carefully with the 3 needles before you derive the answer on a golden compass. Would have been a good e.g. to cite in our workshops if not for the religious controversy.
• The different races/factions and how they are related to the elements, e.g. Witches = Air, Gypsians = Water, Ice Bears = Ice (duh...). Would be interesting to find out which element represents Humans or the Magisterium. Earth? Dust? Hmm....

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Here's what my colleagues thought about The Golden Compass movie:

Person A:

I give a 6:

• The set was fantastic of course, which explains the slightly high rating I gave the movie
• Polar bears' fight scene was quite good, considering its animated
• Script, dialogue and editing was bad - too stilted, simplified and too fast to follow. Became confusing.
• Nicole Kidman losing her skill - the scene where she tried to confess Lara is her daughter is so flat
• But overall, it was okay to good, nice storyline and set.
  

Person B:

I gave it a 6 (i think) because:

- i found parts of the dialogue rather contrived
- story ends abruptly and somehow i felt there was something missing
- nicole kidman - perfect as ice queen but couldn't warm up to her

However the effects were good esp the polar bears and daemons and a movie such as this would appeal to kids who may not want to be bogged down with nuances.


Person C:

I was looking for the "controversial" anti-christian messages that would suddenly brainwash kids everywhere but they were merely trying to question authority, no? Even that wasn't very well-done, seeing how the polar bear scene was overpowering everything else. I agree with Sharm that the dialogues were extremely contrived.. can't imagine someone saying "We will do it, We will. I promise we will" etc etc... yawn

I wouldn't mind reading the books though, so I'd give it a 6.



Person D:

1 - for the talking polar bear
1 - for Nicole Kidman's hair, make-up and wardrobe
1 - for the thickskin set up towards the sequels (hence the hole-y plot. What is 'dust'?_ that's grist for your debate series 2008)
(2+ the rest of the points I didn't give the movie) for the company and the plush Cathay seats ; )

Other than that I think it was PG in case impressionable kids try to ride a polar bear, think it's good to be accompanied by 'daemons', that there are such things as good witches and that an external compass can show them the way (Utter!...)

I give it FIVE...popcorns



Person E:

I kinda agree with Person D because I heard the movie is anti-christian but I can't really get any anti-christian msg until I read the movie review. Has got to do with the Dust thing they had in the movie.

Maybe reading the book wld give you better insight into the movie?

I rate the movie 6.5
-The storyline was not that strong but the animation was very good
-I'm impressed with Lyra cos I read that during her scenes with the polar bear, she had to act with just a white giant ball or something (to represent the bear) on screen but she pulled it off pretty well with her acting
-I didnt expect the movie to end the way it did like some unfinished business (although we know there must be sequels)

Overall, I like the magic of the movie. Imagine gigantic 'ships' that can fly in the air, daemons and beautiful flying witches! I think daemons for children are good, they become their playmates and can leave their busy mummies alone.


Person F:

I still give it a 7. Maybe i had lowered my expectations before watching the movie cos my sis had kind of told me abt it. So, it was highly entertaining. Going in with no knowledge of the plot also added the surprises. Hmm... was wondering wat animal my demon wld be if this is to happen to us now... ha ha ha. Thus i like the story as the animals kind of reflect an inner self of the person. People can see directly what type of

personality u hv. Well as a child's personality is not fixed, the animals still change depending on the situation, whereas our character is fixed and set already when we are adults.

Agree a bit disappointed w Kidman's performance... tot she was so glam in the trailers... but like her slapping her own golden monkey though... so ironic and contradictive of human nature.

Person G:

I'll still give a 7 rating as any movie is enjoyable for a "deprived-no-time-for-movies-mother-of-two" :O!!!

But honestly, I don't have much to complain as I was watching it for pure entertainment.
The 2-hour break in the cinema (when my mind was transported to another world) did wonders to me and I was refreshed for a moment despite the lack of sleep from the usual "motherly duties".

Haven't watched enough movies to comment on the cast, cinematography, etc,...but if I must talk about the movie....well, I kind of had the "Lord of the Rings" at the back of my mind
when I was watching the movie.
- A "common war" involving people from different "worlds" / "races", (the war scenes were not as majestic as Lord of the Rings, of course),
- a young hero who's always the "chosen one" (for reasons unknown)
- "good triumph over evil", when somehow, people come to the rescue in the nick of time, and the ice always fall behind you and not in front... ie. quite predictable
- also, thought Lyra's features looked like a "junior version" of one of the fairies in Lord of the Rings.

What I was expecting but didn't happen:
- A whole Polar Bear army to join "Whisky Bear" in the last battle scene (since he has regained his position as "King", why did he have to do it alone??")
- Mrs Coulter's "Monkey" demon (or is it daemon?) to discover Lyra under the table when they had the short discussion with the Lab people.
- The airship to pick up the poor kids (afterall, where could they run to in the cold outside??)


What I found most interesting:
- The concept of having a "demon" as your soul walking beside you (not sure if I understood it correctly). It's like nurturing and shaping someone's character...you can do it to a kid when the "demon" is not stabilized yet, but once you're grown up, as the Chinese saying goes "ben xing nan yi" (it's hard to change someone's character). The way Lyra's demon switched between a racoon, mouse and cat is like one's "multiple personalities", adapting to protect oneself.
- I started to wonder, like Lin Li, if we were in their world, what would be the "demon" walking beside each of us? Or what would we choose to walk beside us? (don't think lizards and cockroaches will make it to the list) :P hehe.


Person H:

GT: 6

Felt the whole thing was v Gone With the Wind PG-Tweens. Our dear Lyra had so many pronouncements in particular tt final "we will do it. No one's goin to stop us!" declaration which was vintage Scarlet O'Hara in final scene aft Brett Butler had dumped her.

Coupled with the drama dialogue, the soft focus lighting and of course the romance w "you- got-me" Roger (seriously Billy would be better, Roger looks even more like rodent than some Lyra's Pan's incarnations), I'm surprised this wasn't a version of Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland.

Especially like her rattling of the intercision cage complete with dramatic head and hair thrusting :)


Person I:

hmm mine is 6. i was kind of stunned at the scene when kidman confessed that she was the lyra's mom - thought her acting really sucked then. I was also a little confused with the animals changing forms (ie. mouse becoming cat, etc). The 6 is really for the effort in sets, and maybe for the Polar bears ...haha... :)


Person J:

I gave the movie a 7 based on the fact that i think the set was quite nice. Other than that its an ok show, kinda like a mix of Narnia, Lemony Snicket plus maybe a bit of Harry Potter.

Person K:

I give it a 6..
- the Plot was not exciting enough to keep me awake initially..
- Action, Romance & Bed Scene not enuff to warrant higher points... wahahahahah ;D
- its like a little bit here and there.. and there wasn't much "climax" to warrant substantial interest..

Person L:
I went in without any clue on the story but for sure the starting scenes were quite slow moving. It lost me already! Even the chase-for-Lyra that ended at the ship didnt give the adrenaline rush feeling i was hoping.

I think the director was holding back - too much. I had expected the polar bear would win in the bout, but the jaw-thingy caught me off guard. That started to grab my attention. And after that the adventure curve was on the rising, but a suspense ending would be much better to round up.
Too much animation and that Daniel Craig, cant he throw James Bond to bring Lord Asriel alive?
Rating: 6


Person M:
Half way through the show, i felt very lost-in-the-lallang. Contrary to those film reviews that rave this movie as an atheism vs the church thingy, the film doesn't appear as anything of that sort except for the initial part during those man- to-man conversations.

Ever since Lyra moved in to stay with Mrs Coulter i thought the whole thing shifted to become more of a fantasy, kids movie that's full of animation. .I actually expected something much more controversial than just flying hot air balloon like ships and talking animals!

To add on, the storyline was not fully developed. The climax failed to hold the suspense (if there was any to begin with..). Clearly but surely, as always, good triumphs over evil makes everything equally predictable.

The only 1.5 points I gave to pass the film was because of the interesting use of the animal voice to narrate the sequence of the story.. can't remember wazzit the cat or squirrel helped Lyra get the documents about the Goblins from the trash bin and after much persuasion Lyra read the documents and discovered the tra-la-la.. also the points earned for triggering my soft spot for those adorable, talking and cuddly creatures especially cats and the bears lastly, the courageous polar bear, Iorek who stood up to regain back his dignity! Never mind that bears drinking whisky doesn't make sense.. btw, did anyone figure what's with the different accent?

my rating: 6.5