The Golden Compass - PG-13
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Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this action-packed fantasy based on the first book in Philip Pullman's best-selling trilogy will feel threatening to young children. Animals and kids are in constant peril, and young kids will be upset by the threatened separation between the animals (daemons) and their humans. There are also many tense, violent scenes (chases; fierce, growling animals; shooting), as well as a fairly graphic battle between two enormous polar bears (one knocks the other's jaw off). And there's a major clash between children and adult troops that includes guns, arrows, swords, clubs, chains, hooks, and explosions. The main character is a 12-year-old girl who goes up against evil forces to save her friends. Although some religious groups have urged a boycott of the film based on its allegedly anti-Christian content, there is no specific language or imagery related to Christianity.
Families can talk about whether this is really a movie for kids. It's been promoted as a family film; do you think that's accurate? What elements of the film might make it too intense for younger audiences? What values does it emphasize? Families can also discuss the concept of the daemons. What does a daemon represent? Why is the idea of being severed from their daemon so upsetting to the movie's characters? Also, if you've read the book the movie is based on, how do you think the two compare? Which do you like better and why?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
The most wonderful and cunning "effect" in THE GOLDEN COMPASS is Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards). A 12-year-old girl surrounded by digitized creatures, spires, and sailing ships, Richards' Lyra is a singular delight, at once curious and stubborn, thoughtful and impetuous. Though she faces a series of daunting challenges that take her far from home, she remains brave, moral-minded, and smart -- a little girl much like the little girls who might be watching her on screen. That likeness in itself makes Lyra special.
The fact that Lyra lives in a world that's like ours but also different makes her situations both strange and familiar. Based on the first book in Philip Pullman's "HisDark Materials" trilogy, the movie opens in this alternate world's version of Oxford, where Lyra lives at Jordan College with her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig). In Lyra's world, everyone has a "daemon," an animal embodiment of his or her personality and soul. While adult daemons are "settled" (Asriel's is a very dignified leopard), children's are in flux. Lyra's daemon, Pantalaimon (voiced by Freddie Highmore), shifts from ferret to bird to mouse, depending on mood or need. As children mature, their daemons become fixed -- just as their futures begin to seem set.
The initial trouble for Lyra is that her friends are disappearing before they can mature, apparently kidnapped by dark thuggish sorts called "Gobblers." She and her uncle worry about this phenomenon, which is enhanced by the threat posed by the Magisterium, a forbidding institution populated by men in black who believe in order and obedience rather than self-determination. "There will always be free thinkers and heretics," warns the Magisterial Emissary (Derek Jacobi) -- and he doesn't think that's a good thing.
He and other members of the Council see Lyra as a particular threat, believing she is the girl foretold in a prophecy about the Golden Compass, a complex device that can answer any question truthfully -- but can only be read instinctively by one person. And, indeed, when Lyra gets the Compass, she can read it, which puts her at risk from the Council's primary agent, Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman). Though Mrs. Coulter briefly distracts Lyra by taking her on a trip to the cold North, the child soon intuits her would-be mentor's sinister intent and escapes.
From here the film launches into multiple subplots -- not surprising, given that it's the first installment of a proposed trilogy. As Lyra seeks her missing best friend Roger (Ben Walker), as well as Asriel -- who has journeyed to the North in search of evidence of "other words" -- she assembles her own sort of "fellowship," including a band of Gyptians (led by Tom Courtenay), adventurous Texan Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot), and flying witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green). But surely her most magnificent new friend is armored polar bear Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), a onetime king now reduced to performing tricks at a dingy pub.
With the others at their backs, Lyra and Iorek head out into the snowy wilderness, determined to recover Lyra's friends and restore Iorek to his royal birthright -- a feat that eventually leads to battle with the current bear king, Ragnar Sturlusson (Ian McShane).
As even this relatively condensed summary suggests, The Golden Compass is heavy on plot. And with so much to cover, the editing between scenes can be choppy and the digital effects uneven. Fans of the books will notice many changes, and the characterizations of the repressive Magisterial villains may trouble those who worry about the movie's ostensible atheistic messages (Pullman has said repeatedly that he's not preaching one way or another).
But all technical and philosophical complications side, the film is buoyed by Lyra. By turns tenacious and contrary, charming and anxious, she is more enchanting than any magic. When one adult tells her that "Sometimes you must do what others think best," she has the ready and reasonable answer, repeating what she's been taught: "I thought we were best if we were free to do as we please."
Fantasy fans might also enjoy The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter movies, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentNothing explicit, but the fear of children growing up and becoming rebellious during the transition from preteen to teen insinuates a concern with puberty and sexual awareness. |
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ViolenceWeapons used in battle scenes include guns, arrows, swords, clubs, chains, hooks, and explosions. Lyra witnesses an attempt to poison her uncle; in a brief scene, children are frightened and grabbed by shadowy thugs. When Lyra escapes Mrs. Coulter, she's chased by several security men; confrontation between rebels and security guards (who have snarling Dobermans) is tense, but the guards back off. Warriors accompanied by snarling wolves shoot at and capture Lord Asriel, leaving him with bloodied face. Two mechanical bugs hunt and attack Lyra and Pan. In a fit of anger, Mrs. Coulter hits her monkey daemon, causing it pain. A violent severing of child and daemon in a laboratory causes visible pain and screams from both subjects. A very intense fight between two polar bears includes some graphic and disturbing violence (one bear whacks off the other's lower jaw, then drops him dead). |
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LanguageMinor language includes a few uses of "hell." |
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Social BehaviorDeception abounds on all sides: Lyra is instructed to lie to Mrs. Coulter and spy on members of the Magesterium. But even as she uses ruses, the film celebrates her spirited nature and resistance to authority. Heroic figures are loyal and valiant; villains are dastardly, scheming, and dressed to alert you as to their evil intentions. Lyra's intentions are always good, even if the consequences of her actions aren't. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoPolar bear Iorek Byrnison appears drunk and drinking. |
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