The Golden Compass
Rated for sequences of fantasy violence.
reviewed by Christopher Lyon
Every year or so, evangelical Christian media and teachers kind of band together to make a big deal out of a major Hollywood film. First “The Passion” (mostly pro), then “The Da Vinci Code” (mostly con with a nudge to be prepared to engage unbelievers in conversation about the biblical Jesus), and now “The Golden Compass.” It’s a different ball game this time, though, since the movie is based on a book written for kids. If you haven’t yet heard about all the fuss, check out a couple of our recent blog posts (blog post one and two).
The Story
Based on the first of a trilogy of hugely successful sci-fi/fantasy books by British author Phillip Pullman, “Compass” begins the story a pre-teen girl named Lyra (newcomer Dakota Blue Richards). She becomes the central figure in an all-out war between “freethinking” individuals and an authoritarian group known as the Magisterium.
In this alternate universe, every person comes equipped with his or her own daemon, a talking animal spirit-guide representation of the person’s soul that goes everywhere they do. Thus Lyra’s uncle Lord Asreil (Bond’s Daniel Craig) is accompanied everywhere by a leopard. Lyra herself is always in conversation with Pan, her daemon, who constantly morphs into one smallish animal after another. Apparently, a person’s daemon isn’t “set” until adulthood. (That will be a big deal later.)
When Lyra’s uncle leaves alone on a mission to the mysterious frozen North in search of a gateway to alternate universes, she gladly accepts an invitation on a similar journey from the mysterious Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). To Lyra’s dismay, Mrs. Coulter takes her instead to the Magisterium HQ in a big city. Lyra quickly begins to suspect Mrs. Coulter isn’t trustworthy.
Entrusted by a friend of her father with a device capable of uncovering the truth in any given situation -- a secretive and sought after “golden compass” banned by the Magisterium leadership -- Lyra sets out for the North on her own. In part, she hopes to rescue disappeared children kidnapped for dastardly experimentation. Along the way, she finds help from the nomadic Gyptians, a noble ice bear named Iorek (voiced by Ian Mckellen, aka Gandalf), an “aeronaut” cowboy (Sam Elliot), and a witch named Serafina Pekkala (Bond girl Eva Green).
The Verdict
Setting aside all the positive and negative hype for a moment, “The Golden Compass” both succeeds and disappoints on its own terms. There’s no doubting the richness of Pullman’s imagination or the brilliance of the special effects on display. The way in which each person’s “daemon” animal mixes seamlessly and matter-of-factly into the action -- and especially when the screen is crowded with people and animals in battle -- is both a powerful idea and a visual treat.
Dakota Blue Richards and Nicole Kidman stand out among the merely human performances. For a child actor, Richards is convincingly spunky and natural. Kidman brings a cold wind into the frame each time she enters and adds an unexpected complexity to her villain. The rest of the cast is fine, though hampered by interacting with endless CG characters.
In the end, though, the film falters from having too much story to tell in too little time. Director Chris Weitz struggles to give us all the crucial plot details and squeeze in all the settings, devices, and characters in a mad dash to the to-be-continued ending. Those wanting to compare Pullman’s trilogy to “The Lord of the Rings” will wish director Peter Jackson had been available, along with another 90 minutes of screen time. Crises are simply created and resolved much too quickly, stealing away any sense that this is more than a light epic for kids.
Expect it’s not really for kids. The violence, though mostly bloodless, is often extreme. One bear has a jaw ripped off. The body count is high, and children are essentially tortured by adults in lab coats. The ideas behind the story, as we’ll see below, are also beyond the scope of most pre-teens to grapple with.
Worldview
Because of messages coming from Christian leaders, more parents than usual for a film of this style will make “The Golden Compass” off-limits for their kids. That’s understandable, and we think parents should make that call based on their knowledge of their own students. We’re also convinced the Bible tells Christian kids to obey and honor their parents in all things. (Ephesians 6:1-4) If you’re folks say “no,” you shouldn’t go.
If I had a teen child who understood the worldview issues at stake in the books and this film, I’d probably want to watch it with him, to hear him break down for me the central messages, to help him be prepared for conversations with friends about the story’s take on the authority of God, Scripture, the church, and parents. If my kid wasn’t interested in that conversation, I’d be less likely to want him to see the movie.
I don’t know if that will be a big argument for many Christian families, but it would be kind of ironic if it were. For all the talk about Pullman’s atheist agenda (and I think that’s for real), the loudest worldview message of the movie seems to be, “don’t let anyone tell you what to do.” Lyra’s heroism is built on defying evil authority, but she also pretty much ignores the instructions of those who care deeply for her. For believers, God’s Word (Romans 13, for example) is clear that we are called to obey those in authority up until the point that tell us to disobey Him. Of course, that’s exactly the kind of thing Pullman would expect those in the Magisterium/Christian church to say.
I’m going to let other web sites fill you (and your parents) in on all the major worldview issues of the books. Together, you can and should use that info to decide both whether to see the film and -- a much bigger deal -- how to think about it. Check out these links:
* Focus on the Family’s Plugged In backstory and review
* British writer Mark Greene’s take on the books
Frankly, we’re glad to have the help in pointing out that the major issue when consuming books, movies, and other stories is what the author/director/screenwriter is trying to say. The worldview issues around “Golden Compass” are more obvious than normal, but every story is built on a set of worldviews. Our hope with these reviews has always been to encourage students to listen for those messages in every film they watch.
Stories are a powerful way to persuade people to believe deep ideas about who we are and how we should live. God’s Word is full of examples of such sneaky storytelling. To get past David’s blindness about his sin with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan told him a fictional story about a stolen sheep. To help stubborn hearts understand the criminal nature of unforgiveness, Jesus told a story about a man with thousands in debt wiped out who demanded instant payment for a twenty-dollar debt.
C.S. Lewis compressed a rich Christian worldview into a story about kids traveling to a magical land called Narnia. Phillip Pullman packages a rich anti-Christian worldview into a story with talking animals and evil church leaders. Are you paying attention to the messages your favorite stories are trying to smuggle behind the walls of your heart? Are you having a conversation with those stories about the truth? If not, you’re probably not ready to watch any more movies or TV shows for a while. Storytelling is too powerful to just “enjoy without thinking;” it takes real wisdom to sort the truth from the lies before they take root in your life.
Questions:
Have you read “The Golden Compass” or its sequels? Are you a fan?
Do you think you parents will have a problem with you reading the books or seeing the movies?
Do you think people are making too big of a deal out of Pullman’s agenda for telling these stories? Why or why not?
Do you think it’s ever okay to just turn off your brain when watching movies? Is there room to “just be entertained” and not always worry about what the movie’s messages are?
Are you looking forward to the next film in the trilogy?