Phil Mercer's Home Page 2010

Ever since picking up the His Dark Materials series for the first time a few years ago, I have waited for the day that someone would put it on to the big screen.

Having watched the cinema trails for weeks, regularly checking the movie website for months and walking around Oxford as the film crews got on with the shoot, I had great hopes for this film. But did it meet that expectation?

For those that haven't read the trilogy, the plot line is considerably simmered down from the detailed and magical novels.

We are introduced to a familiar yet different Oxford in an alternate reality and our guide to this world, the young girl Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards). She is living in Jordan college under the guardianship of her Uncle Asriel (Daniel Craig) who turns up wanting to get financing from the University for an investigation in to a mysterious "dust" that seems to connect people, their daemons (animals that portray their better judgement) and other realities. He succeeds, but not before Lyra helps him out of a trap.

At the same time, children are going missing from all over the city and Lyra and her friend Roger make a pact to hunt each other out if these "Gobblers" were to get them.

Nicole Kidman plays the beautiful yet cold Mrs Coulter who works with the evil religion of the Magisterium takes Lyra to London to be her assistant, just as Roger vanishes.

So begins an adventure for the little girl to the frozen lands of Scandinavia to rescue Roger, meet new friends and discover her special role in the future of her world.

Chris Weitz has succeeded in bringing the magic of the alternative earth to real life. Oxford and London look absolutely stunning, with recognisable scenes from the Radcliffe Camera and the dreaming spires to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

He has, however, fudged the plot. In some ways I can forgive him for rushing the plot - only giving us a sentence where there used to be a chapter or two. Pullman has given so much material that we could have ended up with another Lord of the Rings epic. Personally, I think I wanted that indulgence though. I can't help but feel he has succumbed to pressure from the Hollywood studios to try and make it as inoffensive as possible. It certainly lacks any real punches... but then the first book held back anyway.

As for the ending, gone is Pullmans gut wrenching cliff hanger... instead we find a sunset!

The problem is expectation. As someone who has read and loved the books, the movie really fails to meet that standard. However, if you're after an engaging and exciting movie that will capture your children's imagination. This is the one. I spent the best part of two hours after the film discovering what Daemon my friends children would be (have a look at the movie website for your own Daemon!) and polar bears are definitely the fashionable pet now!

I wonder if the much darker follow up books will be treated in the same way, or like Harry Potter, are things going to get bleaker for our Lyra?

Labels: Film Movie

# posted by Phil @ 10:13 pm

Wednesday, December 05, 2007