They stopped making sense some time ago, and now they're working themselves up into a cataplexy - - the worst will be over soon. After that they'll need our love and support to get them back on the road to recovery...

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You're living a lie bradley. I don't know who brainwashed you into thinking those two hours were coherent or fun, but it's simply not so.

Amen brother. Though the polar bear fight was my favorite part of the movie, if only because everything else was so goddam flat and boring. Kind of like how emo Peter was the best part of SM3. I'm pretty alone there though.

That really stinks -- now the name is sullied, and the books can't even vindicate themselves. The movie had about as much magic as my toilet brush after a diarrhea overflow.

People, if you didn't like the movie, STILL GIVE THE BOOK A TRY. It's 100000000000000000000x better than the movie. It's better than LOTR. Trust me, you'll love it.

This movie was absolutely, positively, dreadfully bad. Every single aspect of this film was horrendously executed. One of the biggest flops and worst movies of all-time, even worse than Howard the Duck.

I was a bit let down by this one, but it was still a solid fantasy film that should make way for an exciting new series. The first thirty minutes of the film are easily the best, providing a great setup for the general storyline as well as all of the main characters. However, after this portion of the film it becomes a bit of a mess - switching between being dull and incredibly exciting often at the drop of a hat. There is a great two-and-a-half hour epic located somewhere inside this condensed two-hour movie, if that makes any sense. The film is too fast-paced for its own good and many of the scenes feel incredibly rushed throughout. I would have loved to see more of the relationship between Mrs. Coulter and Lyra, which was actually my favorite part of the film, as well as more footage of Lord Asriel. The action sequences were very well-done and on a visual scale the film was quite breathtaking. The screenplay also alternated between being exciting and dull - some of the sequences in the middle of the film with the gypsies were especially uninteresting. The performances are decidely mixed. Nicole Kidman steals every scene she is in, delivering another fantastic performance as the villainous Mrs. Coulter. She makes the character incredibly fascinating and makes the development that occurs quite believable. I have a feeling that this character will turn out to be an ally in later installments, especially based on the final few sequences. Daniel Craig is great but underused in a small yet pivotal role. Dakota Blue Richards is kind of flat and annoying, but does decent enough. Eva Green basically does nothing, and Sam Elliott feels as if he is in the wrong movie. The biggest problem with the film is the lack of any real sense of closure. While other continuing film series such as Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter provide some sense of closure with the ending of each installment, The Golden Compass just leaves things open-ended after building up a fair amount of tension. It's especially annoying considering that a finale was shot, but excised from the final cut. Anyways, this is a decent enough film for its genre. It's not great, but I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes if this film series continues. And it's worth seeing for Nicole Kidman's wonderful performance alone.

B

Oh, oh... that's a bad sign for TGC - - I don't remember thompsoncory ever giving any movie a grade less than an A+ before - - now I'm really frightened for the future of the series...

Hey, only four A+ grades so far this year (Atonement, Gone Baby Gone, Pirates and Stardust)

Surprisingly (or not) dull and lifeless. Didn't care for anything that went on. Only suitable for children. I'd put it on the same level as Narnia and the Potters. 4/10

Narnia (which I gave an A-) was 10x more enjoyabLe than this. It was taLk and taLk for about an hour which makes it harder for the compLex pLot to be foLLowed by someone who hasn't read the book. Though the production design was quite good, they onLy produced a very empty 5-minute action sequence out of a 180m production budget. Dakota BLue Richards' acting was reaLLy promising which saved the fiLm from being a totaL dissapointment.

C+

After two viewings im going to promote this to B+
I can see why it splits audiences, it's not everyones cup of tea, but it reminds me of one of my favourite games, Syberia.

Typical kids fantasy adventure. It was a very intriguing movie though, thanks to the source material. I give it a solid B. And it's much, MUCH better than the Narnia abomination, so really, props to them.

Nicole Kidman is a kickass baddy. She's good at playing evil. She was the best part of the film, easily.

I definitely want to read the books now, because the whole world/worlds in this film is very well imagined. The film makes it as simple and straightforward as possible, but I can imagine that the books are very rich and fulfilling.

Peace,
Mike

The complete nonending was a turn off, yeah. Lots of interesting stuff here, but it didn't come together. To be fair, I missed about thirty minutes, so I won't judge the film. It seemed alright, but the assumption that it would be successful and spawn sequels is a bit frustrating and presumptuous and makes the makers look a bit like asses.

I liked Narnia far more (I think I gave it a B) because it at least seemed more coherent and di a much better general job bringing the book to life. Not to say that it didn't have its fair share of flows, but it was a better film than The Golden Compass to me.

C

A film I desperate wanted to like. The film is so uneven in all areas thats its hard to define what actually worked. Something I will take away from this film is Nicole Kidman's performance which i thought just stood out above all other things. I'm glad this film is having some success in the box office outside America, I really enjoyed the ending and look forward to seeing if they can improve on an interesting franchise, which certainly has better qualities than Narnia.

Having no familiarity with the source material and only knowing what was shown from the trailers to go by. I went into GC expecting to be blown away with amazing visuals and compelling story. What I got was a mediocre sci-fi fantasy that looked cold and grey with one of the least engaging stories to date. The filmakers are assuming you have read the books the film is based as they spend so little time developing the characters and making you care about them. Each new character comes at you in rapid fire assembly line fashion, one right after the other after the other. The plot moves forward at an equally dizzying pace. The result is a disjointed fumbling mess hurling forward to a very anti-climatic ending.

Grade
C+

Wind Waker
Do you post on bom under a different name?

I wasn't expecting much. I didn't read any specifics, but I knew it was getting a lashing from critics and the audience, and it didn't hold up very well with the few of you I trust. But I had a free pass to see the movie, and I'm always hoping to be surprised. Guess not :-(

The movie has a lot of problems...none of which have anything to do with the visuals. The CGI is incredible - a shot early in the movie when Lyra was looking through a magnifying glass at her daemon had me dropping my jaw. The art direction and costumes are superb. The cinematography was hit and miss - sometimes it was very good, and other times it was very uninspired.

The acting was all good enough. The lead child was good enough - better than the three leads in the first Potter, but doesn't hold a damn thing to the young leads in Bridge to Teribithia. I'd put her slightly above the Narnia kids. Nicole Kidman does fine. Nothing stellar, like I had heard. I think a lot of that stems from the poor writing more than anything else. Daniel Craig was in the movie all of five minutes, so it's hard to say how well he did.

The biggest problem here is the screenplay. The movie is a jumbled mess without a sense of direction both as a whole movie and within the scenes. Many scenes play out excruciatingly long. Some scenes - as well as plot points - are very rushed. It's annoying.

The movie as a whole, though, got me intrigued to see more of the universe. The Golden compass has its fair share of problems, but it was a sight to behold and I'm glad I didn't miss the experience in theaters. If New Line does continue on with the trilogy, I'll definitely see it. I am naive enough into thinking many of the problems will be fixed between movies. And a lot of the exposition is out of the way.

C

Pretty much what everyone is saying, its very boring and some bizzare scenes that i dont think were necesary for the movie. Also a big waste of talent; i didnt believe Nicole Kindman's character, she was kind of fake and what the hell happend to Daniel Craig?! He was in the film for literally 10 minutes or less. And really bad special fx's if you ask me.

D+

finally saw this film and its bad. That's really all I can say. It's just plain bad.

D.

I think having read the book i actually now respect the movie more.
The only standout mistake the movie made in the transition was leaving out the final three chapters. They really give the book the satisfying and shocking twisty finale it needed and the film completely left that out. Oh well.

The first book was my favourite though. So that doesn't bode well for the series if people hated this one.

6/10 -> C

Unlike most of you I find the movie eneven from start to finish. First of all I hated Lyra. And that's not a very good thing when after all she is the main protagonist. I mean all she ever does in the movie is talk, talk, do more, talk again, talk and ocasionally look at the althiometer. And it's not constructive talk, it's child jibberish for the most part. I respect that they wanted to give her "childlike qualities" unlike other young protagonists that are smarter than Einstein, but they went too far.

The only scene that worked in the whole movie from start to finish was when Lyra was hiding in the closet. Everything else is in the range of being utterly awful to good, but never great. But somehow the movie is still watchable and even enjoyable. But I think in my case the one who made the movie to work was Nicole Kidman. She was phenomenal (as always). Also Daniel Craig was great, but when the movie finished I almost forgot he was in the movie.

Also it ended to abruptly. I hope the series continues.

I couldn't believe how much this sucked. The story was completely uninteresting and the little girl was awful. Like some already said the whole movie seemed like a big set-up for part 2. The 'battle' at the end seemed like they didn't put any effort in it. How this won Special Effects over Transformers/At World's End is beyond me. I'm not sad this is more than likely not going to get a sequel. F

From wiki:



That still sounds so weird.