You go into the theatre ready to watch a fantasy action film, and The Golden Compass does not disappoint in that area. Every scene from Philip Pullman’s first book in the Northern Lights trilogy has been yanked out and laid out beautifully for you to savour. And there’s action-little rodents being strangled, gigantic ice bears boxing each other’s brains out, and even tiny robotic flies poking Nicole Kidman in the eye.
However, the only question that remains is this: Have the special effects been put into the film, or has a film been squeezed in between special effects? Fans of Pullman’s book will cry foul — the film flies at breakneck speed, perhaps trying not to fall into the ‘leaving-out-so-many-chapters’ genre. There are so many characters, so many concepts and, the film being set in a parallel universe, so many mind-boggling things the audience must get used to. The film follows the exploits of a little rogue Lyra Belacqua (Richards), who lives in a world where each person carries with him/her the physical manifestation of his soul, called daemons, in the form of some animal.
Once children from her town start disappearing one by one, her friend included, Lyra must travel to the North to save them.
She enlists the help of the sea-faring gyptians, a cowboy-type character called Lee Scoresby (Elliot), and a gigantic brooding armoured ice bear (bigger and more vicious than your average polar bear). In the bargain, she must escape the treacherous clutches of the seductive Mrs Coulter (Kidman) and save her uncle Lord Asriel (Craig) from being sentenced to death, all the while trying to protect her tiny little daemon Pan. Told you it was too much to swallow in one gulp! Keeping all that aside, what should drag you into the theatre is the fantastic special effects spread. Not a scene goes without it, what with the adorable talking animals that show expressions, the bullet-a-minute action, the marvellous cities, the Zeppelin ferries, the vast expanses of the Arctic Circle, and most importantly, the ice bears. Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellan), the exiled prince of the ice bears, is depicted in such minute detail that you’ll leave the theatre thinking all polar bears can talk, walk and brood with ease. Every tuft of fur, every gleam of their beady eyes and the rippling jowls when Iorek roars are wonders in CGI. Kudos go to the team at Rhythm and Hues Effects. Get your kids off the old 2D cartoons on TV and take them to see The Golden Compass, atleast to see the ice bears in single-hand combat. Thumbs up!
