"The Golden Compass" (***)

The "His Dark Materials" trilogy written by Philip Pullman remains one of my favorite book series of all-time. Of course when they announcing they were adapting the first of the acclaimed series into a movie I couldn't be more excited. When they announced that there were going to be sneak previews tonight I knew I had to be there. "The Golden Compass" is a good film that for the most part stays true to the book, but it felt like it could have been something more.

The story takes place in an alternate world where people have daemons, animal incarnations of peoples' souls. In control of this world is the Magesterium, this world's version of Catholics. In competition against them is Lord Asriel. He has done study on Dust, a material that is attracted to adults. The Magesterium has also figured out that if they separate a child from his or her daemon then he or she will have no Dust as adults. Also in this world are the Gobblers, people who kidnap children. This is the setting of the story, and inhabiting this world is Lyra. She is a cunning and mischievous girl who happens to be the niece of Lord Asriel. She lives at Jordan College among scholars, but she leaves to stay with Ms. Coulter, a woman who is to travel to the North to learn about Dust. Before she leaves she is given an alethiometer, a compass that tells the truth. When Lyra realizes that Ms. Coulter is not as nice as originally thought she runs away, and the audience is along for the ride.

It is hard trying to describe the story in depth. It is a complex and fascinating world filled with witches, armored bells, and Gyptians. It is a richly layered world intricately imagined by Pullman. The world contains many parallels to our own. The Magesterium is the Catholic church. The things they do in the film could be compared to the Nazis. They capture children, mainly Gyptians, and perform cruel experiments on them. Pullman has received much criticism for his anti-Catholic beliefs. I, however, think he has created a vastly creative and symbolic world.

The performances in the film are good. Dakota Blue Richards is a good find as Lyra. She is good but still has a long way to go. Daniel Craig and Eva Green are not given much to do. Playing a bigger role is Nicole Kidman who gives the best performance of the film. She perfectly captures the essence of Ms. Coulter from the book. She is at once sexy and evil. With the Supporting Actress category as weak as it is this year I see a possibility of a nomination (Right now I am pulling for her and Imelda Staunton in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," two evil women in contemporary fantasy that were expertly brought to the screen this year.).

The film should also be a shoo in for a Best Visual Effects nomination. The daemons and armored bears looked fantastic. It was also interesting to watch the daemons incinerate when their human counterparts were killed.

The main problem I had with the film was that it felt like it did not explore its full potential. I wanted it to be a lot darker, like the book. Also, the ending was changed; it was a much happier ending. The ending in the book was much better and darker. It did not come across as epic like the "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings" franchises. Hopefully, this will change if the remaining books are adapted.

Overall, "The Golden Compass" is a fun ride, especially if you have not read the books. People who have read the books need to know that it is not as dark or as epic as it could have been, but hopefully this will change when the other two books are adapted. It is a nice way to spend two hours though.