The Golden Compass

My Daemon Would Be A Squirrel

I couldn't get into Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy in the same way that I got into the Harry Potter franchise. The premise is fascinating - a parallel universe where people's souls are on the outside in the form of an animal, and the world is run by a totalitarian, quasi-religious authority known as the Magisterium - but there was something I felt oddly missing from the proceedings. A sort of coldness that stopped me from connecting to the lead character of Lyra. Ah, got it. Soul.

Thankfully, director/writer Chris Weitz's adaptation of the first book of the trilogy, retitled from its original Northern Lights to the American title The Golden Compass, is a lot more accessible than the books but again there is that curious lack of soul. The Dark materials trilogy is a much darker, more adult franchise than Jo Rowling's wizard adventures, and that manifests itself in a lack of human or humorous moments in the story. There's virtually no warmth or true emotion in the story, it proceeds on a set emotional pitch with the only genuine emotion being Lyra's relationship with her daemon Pantalaimon.

The ruling Magisterium is a thinly-disguised Catholic Church operating in the present day with the degree of all-pervading influence it had in Medieval times. Lyra possesses a McGuffin that threatens the authority of the Magisterium and her guardian Lord Asriel is talking serious heresy as he pitches to the dons of Oxford for the funds to mount an expedition to the far North.

Asriel intends to prove the existence of parallel universes through the mysterious material referred to as Dust. And it isn't your common or garden variety found under the bed. This stuff is sparkly and affects both you and your external soul - your personal daemon.

At the outset of the adventure, Lyra is a mischievous tomboy, mixing with the Gyptian kids in their encampment and messing around on the roofs of the college where she resides. Everything seems pretty harmless until local kids start disappearing, snatched by "the Gobblers" and she meets the icy Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman).

Lyra is played by 12-year-old newcomer Dakota Blue Richards (who incidentally doesn't even merit a credit on the box artwork). In spite of the name, she comes from Brighton. While putting in a slightly stiff performance in paces, she shows enough spark that she will undoubtedly blossom with the second and third instalments. Dan Radcliffe's first outing as Harry Potter had more wooden moments, and at least Dakota isn't sharing the screen with a scene stealer like Rupert Grint. She is supported by an absolutely stellar cast, including Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, Nicole Kidman as the villainous Mrs Coulter, Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee as members of the Magisterium, Sam Elliott as cowboy aeronaut Lee Scoresby; Former Bond Girl Eva Green plays friendly witch Serafina Pekkala and Sir Ian McKellen voices CGI polar bear Iorek Byrnison.

All the human characters have a personal daemon, an animal-form their spirit or soul takes and which accompanies them through life. Initially able to change form, the daemon settles into a single shape when the person reaches maturity. Lyra's daemon is called Pantalaimon and is voiced by young actor Freddie Highmore (of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the upcoming Spiderwick Chronicles). Lord Asriel's is a snow leopard voiced by Kristin Scott Thomas, but Mrs Coulter's daemon is a golden monkey which has no voice and is a thoroughly nasty piece of work. The daemons are all realised by CGI with varying degrees of success. One point you should really know before the outset of the story is you're not allowed to touch somebody else's daemon - it's a shocking faux pas, apparently, although your daemon can beat up somebody else's without any problems. You need to know this quite early on in proceedings otherwise you will undoubtedly find yourself asking "why doesn't Lyra simply whack that bloody monkey with a chair or something?"

Video
A stonking anamorphic 2.40:1 presentation. The picture is, as you would expect, perfect. Production design is absolutely breathtaking, with the movie full of striking imagery.

Audio
Wow, all the choices! Dolby Digital EX 5.1, DTS ES 6.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 and the yak track in 2.0.

Extras
Subtitle fans will be delighted to know everything is fully subtitled. The two-disc edition comes loaded with 16-18 minute documentaries on everything from the search to cast Lyra to the casting in brass of the alethiometer (Lyra's pivotal McGuffin thingy). There are trailers and production galleries galore. Plenty to keep background freaks like myself happy for hours.

Overall
A truly spectacular fantasy movie and one which sets you thinking a lot more than the run-of-the-mill. On the surface it's a story about missing children and one girl's adventure to save her friend. At deeper levels, there are references to the authority and influence of politicised organised religion, and the dangers of allowing organisations degrees of unanswerable power. Definitely one requiring more than one showing to get all the nuances.