![]() Written by Harry Forbes and John Mulderig, the director and staff reviewer of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops withdrew its positive review of the film, which had been posted on the Catholic News Service website and published in diocesan newspapers. The blend of live action, CG and visual effects is superb, making what must have been a technological nightmare look easy as pie.Days after Chris Weitz’s The Golden Compass – the 2007 film adaptation of (atheist) author Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel Northern Lights – opened in the United States to mixed reviews and underwhelming ticket sales, the U.S. Golden compass movie cast free#Witches sweep out of the night sky, bad guys when shot vanish in balls of flame and the glories of free will get celebrated by championing a child who never does what she is told. Golden compass movie cast plus#Several grand fights, one key revelation, a rescue of Lyra’s playmate plus an old-fashioned “To Be Continued” ending make for a rousing finish. ![]() The Gyptians dock in the frozen north, and Lyra - bizarrely unsupervised for someone the entire world is searching for - immediately makes acquaintance with two more helpmates: a Texas “aeronaut” known as Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) and an armored polar bear named Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen). On the Gyptians’ ship, a gorgeous witch, Serafina (Eva Green), materializes out of thin air, offering her help (which will really come in handy in the third act). As Gogglers close in on Lyra, abruptly a seafaring clan known as Gyptians comes to her rescue. Characters pop up as if cued by a railroad timetable. Here the film’s greatest weaknesses surface. Golden compass movie cast series#The film is then off to the races as Lyra dashes for the Arctic while forming implausible alliances against the Magisterium with a series of human and nonhuman characters. Coulter proves a distinctly unsuitable guardian, Lyra must escape with her life at stake. Coulter (an icy Nicole Kidman), visits the college and just like that takes Lyra under her wing. An ethereal yet possibly malevolent beauty, Mrs. Her best chum, Roger (Ben Walker), is snatched away by the kidnapping Gogglers.Ī college master unexpectedly presents her the gift of a metaphysical, truth-telling device called a Golden Compass. In rapid-fire events that can only happen when a movie is based on a detailed novel, her adventurer-scientist uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) turns up and almost immediately vanishes for the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious substance known as Dust. Because Lyra is young, Pan can shape-shift into several animals as befit her unsettled moods. (The film has more than 1,100 effects shots.) Lyra’s daemon is named Pantalaimon (voiced by Freddie Highmore). This is a major element in the storytelling, yet it makes for a cluttered mise-en-scene and must have been a bitch for the CG artists to produce, as virtually every character in the film is shadowed by a CG critter. A brave little orphan girl, Lyra (a bit of young acting magic that goes by the charming name of Dakota Blue Richards), grows up in an inexplicably pampered and carefree existence in Oxford.Įveryone in this world is conjoined by an animal spirit, a soul mate or alter ego called a “daemon,” that entwines itself into that person’s life. In a 19th century that features dirigibles, other exotic means of transport and mystical creatures, everyone is governed by an Orwellian overlord known as the Magisterium. “Golden Compass” takes place in an alternate reality Britain and Europe, where the time period appears to be late Charles Dickens and early Jules Verne. It’s an imagination overload, yet the film maintains a steady course through the FX mire with a strong story line and viable characters at every turn. Adapted and directed by Chris Weitz, “Golden Compass” possesses its own movie wizardry, ranging from terrific stunts and CG critters to otherworldly sets and all sorts of 2-D and 3-D visual effects.
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