The Golden Compass

Ok so I went and saw the Golden Compass the other day. Mind you I went in blind, not knowing anything about the book or the controversy that it has caused with the Bible Belt. Sooooo....the movie itself is about a little girl Lyra that lives in a world where your soul does not live inside your body, but walks around next to you in the shape of an animal and is referred to as your "daemon" pronounced demon. Lyra, an orphan has been raised at a Cambroxford type University, where her guardian Uncle stops in to check on her from time to time. He however has caused a wrinkle in the perfectly pressed life of the Magisterium by discovering the source of "dust". Lyra is in possession of a Golden Compass that only she can decipher and the Magisterium wants it. In the mean time her Uncle is in pursuit of dust, the magic that connects worlds together.

If this sounds confusing, good. It should. The movie itself has some really fun special effects, but there is extremely limited storyline or plot to be found. Most likely because in the process of adaptation the screenwriter left out all of the religious content. Religious content you ask? Well if you are like me and somewhat ignorant when it comes to literature, let me give you a readers digest version of the book. CAUTION: This could be considered a spoiler: Ok so in the book the Magisterium is referred to as the "Church" and Lyra's Uncle who feels that the Church has far too much control over peoples lives sets out to study the dust so that he can rid the world of original sin. His plan; to kill God. *Gasp*

So there you have the major plot point. However it is missing entirely from the movie, which unfortunately leaves the movie like an empty shell. Cool on the outside but nothing holding it together. It makes very little sense and even the little bit that does loses steam about half way into it. The end is a shameless plea for a sequel, but I doubt there really is a need for one.

** Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for violence)