Or at least the first hour will seem like it.
The great thing about this movie was that it stayed true to the books. That's also the bad thing. A lot of the content in each book is pretty boring. The overall plot is okay, but its really the characters that carry each story.
Compass is a star-studded movie, but despite Bond stars Daniel Craig and Eva Green, along with superstar Nicole Kidman, I found myself leaning my head on my wife's shoulder several times. It wasn't until Sam Elliott arrived on scene playing a Texas aeronaut (I love Elliott), and Ian McKellan voicing the bear warrior Iorek Byrnison (the man's voice alone is compelling) showed up that the movie started to pick up.
The fight scene with the bears was great (they kept the part where one bear's jaw gets slapped off by the other), and the final battle in the arctic circle was pretty good too. But by the end, there was little to compel someone to wait for the sequel.
There are several other stars that were underused, such as Freddie Highmore, whose voice as Lyra's Daemon Pan was weak; Christopher Lee as an evil church leader; and Kristin Scott Thomas who voiced a character I don't remember from either book or novel.
Despite the controversy, there was no God bashing. The 'church' as represented in the movie truly is evil but is not named as anything but the Magisterium. I know there are several Christian groups trying to keep people from watching the movie, but its obvious they didn't watch it for themselves. The issue in this movie is the ideal of free will. I admit the other books can be pretty controversial, but the movie itself was pretty tame. If tame means boring.
One bright light was the introduction of 13-year-old Dakota Blue Richards as main character Lyra. She couldn't carry the movie herself, but she shouldn't have had to. What impressed me most was her facial expressions and being dead on in her acting. I remember rewatching the early Harry Potter movies before the actors knew how to act. It was awkward and sometimes silly, though the actors progressed. Richards didn't seem to struggle on screen and I hope she gets more chances to show her talent. She's not as pretty as Emma Watson, but with time I think she can grow up into a good actress.
As of this post, Golden Compass has only brought in about $25 million, a disappointing number for a movie that cost $200 million. My wife and I went to see it at the discount theater and only spent $4 a piece, and I wouldn't have spent more. The scenery is beautiful, but that's not enough to justify the standard ticket price of $9. I won't hold my breath for a sequel.
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