Bo and I went to see The Golden Compass Wednesday night. Very pretty movie and incredibly well cast. I think they did a great job bringing Lyra's world to life. All the cast members played their roles very well and I have no complaints on that front. Well, almost no complaints. Roger was not a very good looking kid, kinda rat-faced. I don't know if this is because that was the only kid they could find to play the role or the deliberately chose to make Roger kinda ugly. Either way, not the best casting choice, though he did play his part fairly well.
As for the actual movie content, I'm impressed with how they fit the book plot into the movie. All the important scenes were there, albeit a little switched around. They very carefully avoided the religious aspects of the book, but I don't see how they plan to keep that up if they are going to complete the trilogy. I think some other aspects of the book were downplayed a little too much, like the relationship of daemons. For the most part, daemons in the movie seemed more like well-trained pets rather than the life's companion and soul-mate that they truly are. (The daemon animations were fantastic, though.) The thing that upset me the most - and I was very, very upset by this - was where the movie ended. It ended a full 2 or 3 chapters before the book ended!!! It left out the entire dramatic ending of the book!! It is not even possible to start the second book without that ending and I don't know how they plan to fit it in the beginning of the second movie. For those of you who know how it ends (and I won't give it away), you must agree that opening a movie with the ending of Golden Compass would be awful!!
Its not that I hated the movie. I didn't. I really enjoyed it, but I am very worried about how they plan to continue the series.
So, that's one down and plenty more to go:
Martian Child
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
August Rush
Juno
I Am Legend
Atonement
P.S. I Love You
Grace is Gone
Sweeney Todd
The Water Horse
Sigh. I don't know if I'm going to be able to see all these before they've left theaters. Which is a shame.
As for the actual movie content, I'm impressed with how they fit the book plot into the movie. All the important scenes were there, albeit a little switched around. They very carefully avoided the religious aspects of the book, but I don't see how they plan to keep that up if they are going to complete the trilogy. I think some other aspects of the book were downplayed a little too much, like the relationship of daemons. For the most part, daemons in the movie seemed more like well-trained pets rather than the life's companion and soul-mate that they truly are. (The daemon animations were fantastic, though.) The thing that upset me the most - and I was very, very upset by this - was where the movie ended. It ended a full 2 or 3 chapters before the book ended!!! It left out the entire dramatic ending of the book!! It is not even possible to start the second book without that ending and I don't know how they plan to fit it in the beginning of the second movie. For those of you who know how it ends (and I won't give it away), you must agree that opening a movie with the ending of Golden Compass would be awful!!
Its not that I hated the movie. I didn't. I really enjoyed it, but I am very worried about how they plan to continue the series.
So, that's one down and plenty more to go:
Martian Child
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
August Rush
Juno
I Am Legend
Atonement
P.S. I Love You
Grace is Gone
Sweeney Todd
The Water Horse
Sigh. I don't know if I'm going to be able to see all these before they've left theaters. Which is a shame.
1 comment:
I saw the Golden Compass when I got back from my vacation. It was not bad, but I had a lingering feeling that I was missing a lot of what was in the book. (Much like the Harry Potter movies but I wasn't bored to tears by this movie.)
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