The Golden Compass: DVD, Blu-ray Review (2008)

Chris Weitz's "The Golden Compass" is undeniably a great-looking movie. A very good Nicole Kidman, for instance, is a golden vision of cinematic perfection, slinking with menace through an otherwise imperfect film stymied by a dense script and a chafe, baited ending that offers more disappointment than satisfaction.

Weitz based his script on the first book in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, and he used his $180 million budget to create a world that hovers somewhere between the sterility of science fiction and the richness of fantasy. As a result, the movie can be beautiful and harrowing, but too often, also canned and derivative.

In many ways, "Compass" will remind viewers of 2005's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," a superior film that grabbed audiences from the start with its well-rounded characters and the seamless incorporation of its special effects, which were among that year's best.

Though "Compass" follows "Narnia" in that it created something of a stir within the restless Catholic League, which condemned the movie for what it views as atheist undertones, it otherwise is nowhere on par with "Narnia."

What's missing isn't just a sense of magic to the production and a clear idea of all the evil working to undo young Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), who is in possession of the golden compass of the title, an alethiometer used to mine the truth in all things asked of it. What's critically missing is soul, momentum and a lasting element of danger, all of which would have helped "Compass" match "Narnia's" operatic tone.

About the compass of the title. Lyra receives it from her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig, wasted), who instructs her to keep it hidden from Kidman's Mrs. Coulter, a glam tour-de-force who represents the Magisterium (or the Catholic Church--you decide), and who is all about crushing free will in children.

Helping Lyra fight Coulter and the Magisterium is the warrior polar bear Iorek Byrnison (Ian McKellen)--whose battle with Ragnar (Ian McShane) allows the movie its much-needed slice of action--as well as the Gyptians, scores of witches and even Sam Elliott as a gun-toting cowboy. And there’s more--too much more, really--with the movie eventually collapsing beneath the weight of all its unanswered questions.

Grade: C+