I don’t often get a chance to give a bad review but this is my first opportunity. Visually speaking The Golden Compass was a stunning film (and it should have been considering the amount of money invested in the picture), but I have read the book of the same title, on which this movie is based, and although I don’t particularly consider myself a diehard fan, I was disappointed by the major alterations made to the story line. Furthermore, if I had not read the book, I would have been even more confused by the film. My reading had somewhat saved me because I got the general plot but if you did not read the book, don’t see the movie, at least not first.
Many more serious fans of the His Dark Materials series (of which this book is a part of) by Philip Pullman, were somewhat outraged as this series is based on the idea that the church is a bad and tyrannical thing. The movie left out that part and replaced the church with the “Magisterium”. I read the book when I was really young and I didn’t really get the religious references until after I saw the movie and someone pointed them out to me (or lack thereof). Even looking at just the adventure itself, the movie simply does not have the same feeling as the book does which makes this movie somewhat disappointing.
There were some good points to it though. The special effects were well done and the actors’ performances were really good. Still, I believe that they should have made the film resemble the novel more. The movie didn’t even end in the same place the book did! Oh well. I’m still going to go and see the sequels if they ever make any because I don’t like leaving stories so unfinished.