The Golden Compass
Dec. 9th, 2007 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardSo I saw the Golden Compass today. It was okay -- really visually stunning, although I had a few moments where I went, "Seriously, guys, the world-building is great, except for the fact you're going overboard on the pretty yet inconsequential and somewhat inconsistent" -- but definitely not Lord of the Rings or Narnia quality.
I won't say the structure was perfect, or even good, although I can see why they chose to do certain things. One of those is not the switching around of the Svalgard and Bolvangar sequences, because there's not really a practical reason for that; I expected them to just cut out the bit with Svalgard and Iorek fighting the ice bear king (Ragnur?), because in the movie it served no purpose at all. Despite how visually stunning that particular battle sequence was, there was no purpose at all. Plus, after that, there was a lot of really bad judgment. Iorek: Hey, go on the other side of that ravine towards the place where they kidnap children and cut their daemons away. What, you're trapped? Stay there while I go get Lee and the Gyptians. Lyra: I think I'm going to walk up to the front door now.
One thing I wish they had put in was the bit where Lyra, Pantalaimon, and Kaisa find the place at Bolvangar where they're keeping the cut-away daemons, because I think that would have helped with the whole intercision thing as presented in the movie.
I understand why they had Billy Costa be the kid whose daemon was cut away, but I wishe he'd died, because as it is, we don't get a good idea of why it's so dangerous. I understand it's harder to explain these things in a movie than in a book, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done. Actually, as a whole I felt that the movie shied away from going to the darker places of the book, which hurt it a lot. Especially the very last scene of the book, where Asriel cuts away Roger's daemon and opens the door. That scene's not in the movie. Thematically, I understand why; Weitz wanted to end on a somewhat upbeat note in case the movie didn't get greenlit for The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass to be made, and that ending opens the door for a sequel, but it was a really big shock to me that they cut off that ending. I saw the movie with a friend, though, and she didn't even remember what had happened to Roger, just that he hadn't been in the other two books. On the other hand, I think it did a large disservice to the books and to the story, because The Golden Compass is a lot darker than it was portrayed in the movie.
I rather liked Serafina Pekkala, however, I think they shoud have used her daemon on the boat rather than her, like Pullman does in the novel. In the novel, though, she seemed largely unnecessary -- in the first one, I mean, not the other two -- and the same thing remains true here. It's a moment of, "That's nice. Why do we care, again?" The same thing holds true for the Magisterium, which isn't really an issue in the books until the third one.
I wish we'd seen more of Lord Asriel; I liked him. I liked him in the books, too, at least until he went crazy in the end of The Golden Compass. Daniel Craig portrayed him really nicely, though.
Likewise with Mrs. Coulter. I was unsure of her in the beginning of the movie -- still am, a bit, but there was one scene where she seemed really sincere, and I understand that it's the scene where she's meant to be -- the one where Lyra and Pan are almost intercised, and Mrs. Coulter is sitting at Lyra's bedside with her head in her hands. I think Nicole Kidman did a good job as Mrs. Coulter; she was suitably creepy and manipulative. Probably could have been a little more manipulative, but it was okay as is.
I liked Lee and Hester. That bit was awesome. Plus: "I'd hate to die in a rocking chair instead of a hydrogen explosion."
Iorek I was dubious about. I don't really think he was portrayed entirely well; we didn't get a good enough idea of his character as we did in the books, so he comes over a little -- I'm not exactly sure how to say it. A little too quick to trust Lyra, I guess. Too human; in the novel a big deal is made about how he's not human, how the ice bears aren't human, and we don't see that at all in the movie.
Christopher Lee showed up as part of the Magisterium, and I took one look and went, "Saruman? What are you doing here?" It didn't help that Ian McKellen is the voice of Iorek.
Sidenote: I've always wondered why Mrs. Coulter's daemon, the golden monkey, never speaks in the entire series; he doesn't speak here either. Pantalaimon and Kaisa are the only daemons that have significant speaking parts and Kaisa doesn't show up in the movie. In the movie, Hester speaks and Stelmaria speaks; that's it. I think it's one of the downfalls of the series, because for all his talk about daemons being souls, Pan and Kaisa are the only ones he really gives that ability too; we don't see it in any of the others, and that's because of his bullheadedness on Lyra's part; the others don't or barely have personalities at all. Hester does, at least; Stelmaria and the golden monkey don't at all. I don't think even Kirjava, Will's daemon, has much of a personality.
*considers* Shiny, but not entirely worth the $6.50 I spent to see it. And I didn't even get to see the Prince Caspian trailer on the big screen, because they didn't air it here; I heard they did at some other theaters.
I won't say the structure was perfect, or even good, although I can see why they chose to do certain things. One of those is not the switching around of the Svalgard and Bolvangar sequences, because there's not really a practical reason for that; I expected them to just cut out the bit with Svalgard and Iorek fighting the ice bear king (Ragnur?), because in the movie it served no purpose at all. Despite how visually stunning that particular battle sequence was, there was no purpose at all. Plus, after that, there was a lot of really bad judgment. Iorek: Hey, go on the other side of that ravine towards the place where they kidnap children and cut their daemons away. What, you're trapped? Stay there while I go get Lee and the Gyptians. Lyra: I think I'm going to walk up to the front door now.
One thing I wish they had put in was the bit where Lyra, Pantalaimon, and Kaisa find the place at Bolvangar where they're keeping the cut-away daemons, because I think that would have helped with the whole intercision thing as presented in the movie.
I understand why they had Billy Costa be the kid whose daemon was cut away, but I wishe he'd died, because as it is, we don't get a good idea of why it's so dangerous. I understand it's harder to explain these things in a movie than in a book, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be done. Actually, as a whole I felt that the movie shied away from going to the darker places of the book, which hurt it a lot. Especially the very last scene of the book, where Asriel cuts away Roger's daemon and opens the door. That scene's not in the movie. Thematically, I understand why; Weitz wanted to end on a somewhat upbeat note in case the movie didn't get greenlit for The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass to be made, and that ending opens the door for a sequel, but it was a really big shock to me that they cut off that ending. I saw the movie with a friend, though, and she didn't even remember what had happened to Roger, just that he hadn't been in the other two books. On the other hand, I think it did a large disservice to the books and to the story, because The Golden Compass is a lot darker than it was portrayed in the movie.
I rather liked Serafina Pekkala, however, I think they shoud have used her daemon on the boat rather than her, like Pullman does in the novel. In the novel, though, she seemed largely unnecessary -- in the first one, I mean, not the other two -- and the same thing remains true here. It's a moment of, "That's nice. Why do we care, again?" The same thing holds true for the Magisterium, which isn't really an issue in the books until the third one.
I wish we'd seen more of Lord Asriel; I liked him. I liked him in the books, too, at least until he went crazy in the end of The Golden Compass. Daniel Craig portrayed him really nicely, though.
Likewise with Mrs. Coulter. I was unsure of her in the beginning of the movie -- still am, a bit, but there was one scene where she seemed really sincere, and I understand that it's the scene where she's meant to be -- the one where Lyra and Pan are almost intercised, and Mrs. Coulter is sitting at Lyra's bedside with her head in her hands. I think Nicole Kidman did a good job as Mrs. Coulter; she was suitably creepy and manipulative. Probably could have been a little more manipulative, but it was okay as is.
I liked Lee and Hester. That bit was awesome. Plus: "I'd hate to die in a rocking chair instead of a hydrogen explosion."
Iorek I was dubious about. I don't really think he was portrayed entirely well; we didn't get a good enough idea of his character as we did in the books, so he comes over a little -- I'm not exactly sure how to say it. A little too quick to trust Lyra, I guess. Too human; in the novel a big deal is made about how he's not human, how the ice bears aren't human, and we don't see that at all in the movie.
Christopher Lee showed up as part of the Magisterium, and I took one look and went, "Saruman? What are you doing here?" It didn't help that Ian McKellen is the voice of Iorek.
Sidenote: I've always wondered why Mrs. Coulter's daemon, the golden monkey, never speaks in the entire series; he doesn't speak here either. Pantalaimon and Kaisa are the only daemons that have significant speaking parts and Kaisa doesn't show up in the movie. In the movie, Hester speaks and Stelmaria speaks; that's it. I think it's one of the downfalls of the series, because for all his talk about daemons being souls, Pan and Kaisa are the only ones he really gives that ability too; we don't see it in any of the others, and that's because of his bullheadedness on Lyra's part; the others don't or barely have personalities at all. Hester does, at least; Stelmaria and the golden monkey don't at all. I don't think even Kirjava, Will's daemon, has much of a personality.
*considers* Shiny, but not entirely worth the $6.50 I spent to see it. And I didn't even get to see the Prince Caspian trailer on the big screen, because they didn't air it here; I heard they did at some other theaters.