Stars:
***
Rating: PG-13 for fantasy violence and
intensity
Run Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes
New Line
Cinema is betting the bank on this ambitious franchise based on Philip
Pullman’s fanciful novels (“His Dark Materials”) that will turn trilogy quicker
than you can say “Lord of the Rings”.
But the
comparison ends there. The action centers on precocious Lyra Belacqua (Dakota
Blue Richards), the 12-year old niece of handsome adventurer Lord Asriel (Daniel
Craig) who has been secretly gifted with the sixth golden compass.
The compass
is a magical Alethiometer, a truth compass that reads the past and future with
startling accuracy. Lyra’s mission is clear – sort of. She’s the youthful voice
of reason straddling a rational scientific field and that of the oppressive
Magisterium, an evil hierarchal order intent on claiming young souls.
Determined
to rescue a missing friend Lyra sets out for an Arctic universe. Mixed into
notions of Ice Bear Kingdoms and child-stealing Gobblers are whispers of Lord
Asriel’s discovery of a special golden dust that may provide a supernatural connection
between analogous worlds.
No one can
be trusted in what ultimately becomes an imaginative cat-and-mouse game, or so
it appears. Dark battles light with eyes on a nebulous prize.
Nicole
Kidman is deliciously ghoulish – yet utterly radiant – as the mysterious Mrs.
Coulter, who may or may not have Lyra’s best interests at heart. Stately master
bear Iorek’s (voice of Ian McKellan, natch) loyalties, however, are crystal
clear; he has Lyra’s back and is one of a myriad of talking animals that
include entertaining, shape-shifting alter egos known as daemons.
It sounds
complex and it is, stuffed to the gills with metaphysical concepts and myriads of
witches and hobgoblins that are introduced but spend long stretches off-screen;
most notably Eva Green as the sorceress Serafina.
The furious
debate over the film’s religious undertones, or lack thereof, is gaining steam.
In early October the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights launched a
boycott of the film, accusing it of “selling atheism to kids”. Secularists
complain that the movie soft-sells Pullman’s religious critique. “The
Chronicles of Narnia” redux.
Bluescreen
tech is commendable as are the compass graphics and, my personal favorite, the
Spy Fly; a golden cousin to the spindly super-spiders of “Minority Report”. An
icy bear war between Iorek and the North’s bear king is particularly thrilling.
Fortunately
it isn’t all about the effects. Craig, Kidman and Richards deliver affecting
performances that lend heft and humanity to the overriding whimsy.
But “Compass”
has that slick, packaged feeling; a calculating aura that screams bottom line.
The folks at New Line needn’t worry; this one’s destined to be a cash cow.