I just got back from a screening of the movie the Golden Compass. My initial reaction: it was briskly paced (for a 2 hr movie) and reminds me of the very first HP. If you read and enjoyed the book, you’ll like the movie, because it’s basically an illustration of the book, rather than a narrative in its own right. And it stops about 150 pages early.

a note about spoilers: these are intended for people who’ve not read the book; if you’ve read the book, nothing I can say will “spoil” the movie

My husband got the announcement of the screening & knew I’d enjoy it, but hadn’t read the book. His coworker had, and had been telling him about it (how anti-Christianity it is &c.), so during breakfast I gave him a quick run down. His coworker clearly got something different out of it than I did (for me, it was a coming of age story, for him, an atheist manifesto; perhaps I shall convince him to do a guest review), so explaining it to DH was an interesting perspective (DH: “He said that…” Me: “oh, yeah…”).

The thing that impressed me the most (after CG since now I’m used to really good and really seamless CG, and this was both) was how well cast it was. SPOILER WARNING Nicole Kidman is eeeevil and we don’t see too much of Daniel Craig. I’m still on the fence about him as Lord Asriel (and why he gets top billing for that is beyond me). /SPOILER, for now The Magisterium are perfect (from Simon McBurney, who I’ve never seen before, to Derek Jacobi, who I have). The kids are pretty good, too, and solidify in my mind the fact that Ender’s Game can be made into a movie. Sam Elliot is awesome, as usual (especially since I’d forgotten all about Lee Scoresby), and Ian McKellen makes a bear more articulate than most of the humans. And with that many big names plus 9 SFX houses, I don’t want to think about how much this flick cost to make…

REAL SPOILER ALERT My husband didn’t understand why/how Iorek managed to beat the other bear and I agree that it wasn’t well explained in the movie. Most of the major scenes were included (although Lyra never sets the daemons free at Bolvangar) but the nuances (how horrible it is to touch another’s daemon, how pain is caused when they get too far from each other, &c.) are ignored or mentioned only briefly. Some characters are missing or turned into ancillary characters (like Farder Cordam) who don’t evolve. Lyra’s relationships with people also aren’t subject to a whole lot of meaningful development, which disappointed me, but again, this is mostly an illustration of the book, and as such it is a very fun ride. END SPOILERS

I love that I live in a time when my favorite fantasy and science fiction pieces can come to life. Spiderman and X-Men, however annoying they may have become, were worth being able to see my heros in person. Or at least more in person than I ever was able to before. The entire HP series, too, is worth being able to see magic happen. Transformers was awesome since I never liked the show, but it was great to see my husband’s childhood heros come to life. I, Robot is often forgotten in these kinds of discussions, since it’s generally considered a not-great work. But for what it was, and what I consider all of this genre to be, it was awesome. Seeing Dick’s and Asimov’s imaginations spring to life under the faithful mouse-pointers of Rhythm & Hues, under the practiced acting of Smith and Cruise (and I loved him in Minority Report), is such a treat. And so is the Golden Compass: such a treat. Read the book, then see the movie. It’s worth a rental, if not a matinee (certainly not a full-price ticket).