I have to wonder if whoever was put in charge of the Golden Compass reviews page on RottenTomatoes.com has something against the film; it's listed as receiving a 44% approval rating but some of the reviews seem more positive then negative when I actually read some of them. I don't need to ask a reviewer how it was though since I just got in from seeing it, and I have to say that it was very enjoyable.
I won't go on too long as I don't want to inadvertently spoil anything, but what's funny about the religious brouhaha surrounding the film is that many evangelicals are doing the very thing that the bad guys in the film do; no one is allowed to question, to offer a different point of view, or act outside of religious control. There are plenty of groups boycotting the film, but how can they have so much against books they haven't read and a film they haven't seen? All they know is that someone criticized organized religion and its abuse of power (the Catholic Church of centuries past and the Spanish Inquistion seem to be the inspiration for the pious villains) and they start singing "Onward Christian Soldiers," trying to drown out what could otherwise provide for an interesting dialog between atheists and the religious. What is even more absurd was that churches promoted the Chronicles of Narnia to their members and organized all sorts of special screenings, celebrating a fantasy work intended to introduce children to Christianity. Someone else writes a book arguing against an oppressive religious group that does not (at least I would hope) resemble the sort of church many evangelicals would want to have and this is somehow not allowed. Such is dogmatism, I guess, where there are thoughts that we must think and saying that should not be said, all in the name of some amorphous concept of "the greater good." I haven't read the books that provide the basis for this and the films that I hope will follow, but reacting to the film itself I saw nothing in it that was directly atheistic; the film portrayed a powerful and oppressive group of zealots who tried to control everyone else because they felt they knew what was best, not even bearing the thought that the world might be different than what's written in their sacred books. Strange, then, that so many evangelicals seem to want just that. For what it's worth, anyway, I liked the film and wish that the sequels will soon follow, and if you have a chance it's worth the $9 admission to see a movie that has somehow shaken the very basis of the beliefs of so many Christians. If this movie is that threatening, then the faith of those who are so concerned about it must be pretty weak, indeed.
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Glad you liked the movie. I'll be seeing it soon. You should really read the books. I've read the first two--and will be reading the third book once I get it back from the person I loaned it to--and have really enjoyed them. They are, I think, somewhat more subversive than the the movies--especially the first one--are supposed to be.
ebert: ****
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/REVI…
I can't wait to see the movie now, reading that you liked it and the review that bluesky has linked to. I just wondered what may happen if the atheists threatened to boycott the movie. Would the evangelicals then flock to see it?
The movie sucks. Had to pay my money to piss off the crazies. But so much of the story was left out, it was lame, it was boring except for the polar fight, which rocked. This movie just left all of the back story out to make the christians happy and frankly it pissed me off. I wish Peter Jackson had made this movie, three hours in the theater for a good story is fine by me.
I haven't read the books, but I don't doubt that the movie will disappoint some of the purists who have. On the other hand, both my wife and I liked it very much, and will be buying the books for ourselves.
BTW, there's an excellent two-part interview of Pullman on the CBC: http://tinyurl.com/39w9xw
RBH
You have been memed.
maybe they are afraid the movie is full of atheistic, subliminal messages.
I've read the books and I thought the movie was pretty good. It was entertaining and visually beautiful! There was a lot of the actual story missing...and I felt they could have made the movie another half hour longer at the least...but I still enjoyed it.
There were obvious references to religion, even if they left out a lot: Iorek's armor was stolen and hidden in a church, the Magesterium dressed like preists and the head of the Magesterium looked a lot like the pope (and like a time lord!). Of course, I was looking for the references...I wonder how obvious they were to people who weren't looking?
My only real gripe was the song at the end. WTF??? J and I were actually embarassed by it. It was terrible! They should have ended with the instrumental that followed...
So somewhere between when the Master dodges the Time War and when he goes to the year one trillion to become human he skips to an alternate universe and becomes the head of the Magesterium...not so hard to believe.
What is hard to believe, however, is that Evangelicals would promote Chronicles of Narnia and boycott Golden Compass. If they are going to be like that they should boycott both movies, both are fantasy (and though CoN is "Christian allegory" what message is the movie supposed to pass on, that Jesus has a brother that is a resurrecting Lion? That Turkish Delight is of the Devil? That Santa is a pandimensional traveler?) and neither promotes the Fundamentalist world view.
I for one loved the movie.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. What everyone here has predicted seems to be true; those who hadn't read the books beforehand enjoyed the film, those that had (some of which that were hoping for a stronger anti-religion message, perhaps) didn't like it as much. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, but I figure it's a series so I wouldn't hold it against the film too much. It wasn't the greatest thing I ever saw but it definitely evoked some emotional reactions in me and thus (in my mind) was an effective film even if it was "toned down."
I for one liked it, but they left out the end!! In the novel, that was the greatest (and one of the most depressing) sequel set-ups evar.