Movie Review

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Theatrical Release: Dec 7, 2007 Wide

Box Office: $67,513,776

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Daniel Craig & Dakota Blue Richards

Director: Chris Weitz

After a series of delays and personnel changes, the first part of Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass, arrives in South Indian theaters this January. Starring Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Daniel Craig, and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, Golden Compass serves as an introduction to a sprawling ambitious story of daemons, polar bear fights, and parallel worlds. Let's take a look at some other fantasy flicks of its ilk that have come before it.

Synopsis: THE GOLDEN COMPASS is an adaptation of the first book in the beloved but controversial fantasy series by Phillip Pullman. The story opens with Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) an orphan girl who lives in an alternate world that is similar to earth, but where people's souls exist outside of their bodies in animal form. The people are ruled by a shadowy and oppressive council known as the Magisterium, which is doing it's best to keep everyone from getting information about what is called "Dust." Lyra's Uncle Asriel (Daniel Craig) has been researching Dust, and he has seen to it that Lyra is given safe shelter at Jordan College. But when the visiting Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) arrives, she asks Lyra to accompany her on a trip to the North to meet the Panserbjorne, a race of armored bears. Before Lyra leaves, the Headmaster gives her a golden compass, a device which only she can read, and from which she can intuit the truth. Lyra leaves with Mrs. Coulter, but when she learns that her friends have been kidnapped by "Gobblers," she heads out to find them, and soon joins forces with the nomadic Gyptians, some witches, and an armored bear called Iorek Byrnison (voice by Ian McKellen). Lyra finds her friends, and so discovers the evil plans the Magisterium has cooked up for the world's children. By the film's end, she has vowed to track down her Uncle Asriel, and to discover the true power of Dust. Hollywood had a tricky time of taming this tale, as Pullman's books portray religion - the Catholic Church in particular - in a less than flattering light. The film version carefully steers clear of these themes, and instead puts its enormous budget into creating visually stunning effects. While fans of the books may find fault with this streamlined version, children are sure to revel in the many talking animals and whimsical airships.

Like the Narnia chronicles, the Harry Potters, Bridge to Terabithia, and the upcoming Spiderwick Chronicles, the His Dark Materials trilogy joins a spate of young adult entertainments whose characters discover extraordinary worlds beyond their own. To us, the appeal of these alternative worlds, parallel universes, and lands long gone from existence is obvious. When children are cultivated for education from infancy (curse you, Baby Einsteins!) and material distractions crop up on a daily basis, who wouldn't want their inner fantabulist entertained? Though discovering new worlds is hardly a new enterprise (remember your first Trip to the Moon?), we'll start in the 1980s when children's and medieval fantasy ruled the theaters.

New Line's mega-budgeted fantasy adventure The Golden Compass opened below industry expectations but still managed to find its way into the number one spot at the North American box office. No other wide release debuted over the frame so the rest of the top ten was filled with holdover pics. For the second consecutive weekend, the top ten failed to break the $70M mark further extending the end-of-year slump that Hollywood has been suffering from as audiences have displayed little excitement for the offerings that the studios have rolled out. Overall, the box office slumped to the worst performance in five years for the first weekend of December.

Despite a built-in audience of literary fans and a massive production budget estimated to be between $180-200M, The Golden Compass generated a relatively mild $26.1M opening this weekend while playing ultra wide in 3,528 theaters. Averaging $7,405 per site, the PG-13 film starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig saw a bow that was in the same vicinity as those of recent historical effects-driven adventures released during the holiday season like Beowulf ($27.5M last month) and Eragon ($23.2M last December). With no other competing new releases, and with most current films aging rapidly, Compass was expected to have smooth sailing to a higher gross at the multiplexes this weekend.

The opening was nowhere near the $65.6M debut of The Chronicles of Narnia from two years ago this very same weekend. Both were epic fantasy adventures based on popular kids books, targeted the family audience in early December, and were driven by special effects. Narnia carried the potent Disney brand name, secured a more commercially-friendly PG rating, and took advantage of a better-known literary source. Compass on the other hand attracted plenty of resistance from Catholic groups who encouraged people not to buy tickets for the film. The New Line release also attracted mixed reviews from critics who were mostly not enthusiastic about the pic.

Among this year's 18 event films launching in over 3,500 theaters, The Golden Compass attracted the third worst opening weekend. The only ones to premiere that wide and with less muscle were the far less expensive pics Surf's Up and Fred Claus which bowed to $17.6M and $18.5M, respectively. December releases typically last longer at the box office so The Golden Compass still has a chance of joining the century club domestically. But the road to profitability will be a long one.

Disney's feel-good princess hit Enchanted fell from the top spot after two weeks of rule and grossed an estimated $10.7M putting it in second place. The PG-rated comedy dropped only 35% and boosted its stellar cume to $83.9M in 19 days. With good word-of-mouth and school holidays right around the corner, Enchanted should continue to hold up well throughout the holiday season. A final tally of $115-125M could result capping off a year of mostly winners for Disney.

Compass Not So Golden, but Still Navigates