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THE GOLDEN COMPASS is the movie adaptation of the first novel in Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, known in the UK by the title 'Northern Lights'. It tells of Lyra Belacqua, a young girl who lives in the city of Oxford in a parallel universe. In that universe, the soul exists outside of the body in the shape of an animal familiar known as a daemon. Someone is stealing children for reasons unknown and the latest is a friend of Lyra's. Before she can do anything about it, she is taken under the wing of Mrs Coulter (the cool and elegant Nicole Kidman) and shown some of the wonders of the big city. When she discovers that Mrs Coulter is responsible for the taking of the children, she sets off with the Gyptians to the frozen lands of the north to find out what has become of her friend. Along the way she will have to deal with witches, balloon-flying cowboys and heavily armoured polar bears.

The 'His Dark Materials' trilogy has come in for its fair share of controversy through weaving all kinds of metaphysical and religious ideas into its fascinating tapestry. External souls, angels, repressive religious organisations and even a full on assault against heaven all feature in the books. None of this (or virtually none of it) appears in the film. Mention is made that the daemons are souls personified and of the mysterious matter known as Dust, but all of that is quickly forgotten in order to get on with the action.

There is some action in THE GOLDEN COMPASS and the best of it comes via the giant armoured polar bears. These wonderful CGI creatures (voiced by Ians McKellen and McShane) provide much of the devastation in a fabulous duel and the final battle sequence. These aside, there are a couple of foot chases, but not a lot else. Younger children are likely to get bored quite early on and for some lengths of time.

The film looks fantastic at all times. The marvellous architecture of Oxford has rarely been so luminous and there is the strangeness of the alternative London, part modern and part Victorian and the desolate wastes of the north. The cast also look their parts. Dakota Blue Richards is the young girl chosen to anchor the film and she manages this extremely well. Nicole Kidman doesn't have the threatening presence to create a truly memorable villainess, but is suitably aloof and gorgeous. Daniel Craig is heroic and mysterious as the heroic and mysterious Lord Asriel, so no problems there.

The problem there is lies in the plot. Where the book is a dense, layered, dark experience all of the subtlety has been stripped away to provide a family-friendly adventure fantasy. It meanders around a bit and often feels like a bunch of events rather than a narrative, but the promise of the polar bears is always there and boy do they deliver.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS should have been a dark fantasy to be compared forever to THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Sadly, it will soon be forgotten and passed over for new experiences and we may not even get to the later books. On this evidence that might not be such a bad thing.

Learn more about this author, Darren Humphries.
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