2008 Woodie Awards
'Golden Compass' brings stunning fantasy to the silver screen
Michael Tate
Issue date: 2/16/08 Section: Opinion
"The Golden Compass"
Jenna:
Dakota Blue Richards makes her acting debut as Lyra, a young girl who sets out on a quest to save a friend but winds up on a journey to save her entire world. This world is a magical world filled with talking ice bears, flying witches, and most importantly a magic compass.
In the movie each child is fitted with a daemon, an animal-shaped creature in which a part of their own soul is manifested. The magisterium, the ultimate authority in her world, has begun performing cruel procedures of separating children from their daemons to produce sad living shells of the children they once were. Lyra must find her kidnapped friend, before it is too late and he suffers the fate of having his daemon removed.
While "The Golden Compass" was full of famous names, (such as Nichole Kidman, Ian McKellan, Daniel Craig, and Sam Elliott), and was definitely not lacking in CGI effects, it didn't produce the kind of spell-binding quality that would draw audiences back for the sequel. It was a decent enough movie, but seems to fall just short of the movie magic that makes audiences want to embrace this type of cinematic adventure.
Michael: In this film rendering of a popular fantasy novel, the heroine finds herself the only person capable of reading a magical compass that tells pure, un-manipulated truth. Lyra uses the compass to read people's inner thoughts and communicate with them in a highly personal way, such as we rarely can do in a world where we so carefully hide our painful experiences from others' eyes. Lyra's compass can see beyond the mask of the other characters.
Some theological aficionados feared that this story would lead people away from Christ. However, there are no perceptible anti-Christian overtones. It is highly unlikely that any faithful Kansas Wesleyan student would feel his or her faith attacked by watching this movie. It is simply a fantasy, a story. I recommend "The Golden Compass" to anyone who wants to enjoy modern special effects and another example of an imaginary world in which he or she can dream freely in a world not bound by the physical laws of our own.
Jenna:
Dakota Blue Richards makes her acting debut as Lyra, a young girl who sets out on a quest to save a friend but winds up on a journey to save her entire world. This world is a magical world filled with talking ice bears, flying witches, and most importantly a magic compass.
In the movie each child is fitted with a daemon, an animal-shaped creature in which a part of their own soul is manifested. The magisterium, the ultimate authority in her world, has begun performing cruel procedures of separating children from their daemons to produce sad living shells of the children they once were. Lyra must find her kidnapped friend, before it is too late and he suffers the fate of having his daemon removed.
While "The Golden Compass" was full of famous names, (such as Nichole Kidman, Ian McKellan, Daniel Craig, and Sam Elliott), and was definitely not lacking in CGI effects, it didn't produce the kind of spell-binding quality that would draw audiences back for the sequel. It was a decent enough movie, but seems to fall just short of the movie magic that makes audiences want to embrace this type of cinematic adventure.
Michael: In this film rendering of a popular fantasy novel, the heroine finds herself the only person capable of reading a magical compass that tells pure, un-manipulated truth. Lyra uses the compass to read people's inner thoughts and communicate with them in a highly personal way, such as we rarely can do in a world where we so carefully hide our painful experiences from others' eyes. Lyra's compass can see beyond the mask of the other characters.
Some theological aficionados feared that this story would lead people away from Christ. However, there are no perceptible anti-Christian overtones. It is highly unlikely that any faithful Kansas Wesleyan student would feel his or her faith attacked by watching this movie. It is simply a fantasy, a story. I recommend "The Golden Compass" to anyone who wants to enjoy modern special effects and another example of an imaginary world in which he or she can dream freely in a world not bound by the physical laws of our own.
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