The Golden Compass

M: Woody Allen said, "This food is terrible . . . and such small portions."

This movie felt like it tried to cram so many characters and scenes into its - actually not so short time allotment - that the story just bounced randomly from character to character and event to event. The movie wasn't exactly short, but I can only explain the splintered presentation by a lack of time to present an un-splintered version. I didn't feel like I knew, or liked for that matter, any of the characters. Because I didn't know or understand them, I didn't know why they did the things they did (like the little girl going into a scary tent by herself in the night). The movie was definitely made for people who have read the book and know what is going on. For the rest of us, it makes no sense. And the discussion of "dust" just doesn't matter, who cares. Give us an idea of what you are talking about and maybe we can get on board. Instead, I was just bored. The movie was very pretty and and well made, but it was very high on the "what the" factor. After pausing the movie for a brief intermission, we came back, pushed play, and discovered to our amazement that the movie was actually over. A major "what the" moment. After sitting through over 2 hours of head shaking moments, the movie presented us with a "leaves you wanting more" moment. Woody Allen's refrain fits: the movie was terrible, yet it was too short and it ended too soon. 2 stars

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V: I was looking forward to seeing this, and it left me quite underwhelmed. When it ended, we were both asking, "Really? Really, that's it?" (We know they hope for a sequel, but still.) The positive is that it is very, very beautifully done. (Oscar for Best Visual Effects, nominated for Art Direction) It might even be worth watching just for that. Maybe just mute the sound. No, the script isn't that bad, but it does have a few of those obvious "power" lines that the characters repeat later in the film (or a couple of lines later) for dramatic effect. My biggest complaint was that it just quickly jumped from event to event with little lead-up or suspense. It was incongruous and inconsistent. For example, we asked (spoiler!) why the bear was nothing without his armor, owed his life to the girl for (very quickly and casually) helping him get the armor back - then spent so much time without it - then had it again after traveling long distances. Stuff like that bugged us. A shame as it is obvious that a lot of money and effort was spent on the rest of this film. We'd heard Tom Stoppard was hired then fired for this film - now that might have been a great movie. And the religious controversy - it's pretty harmless. (I would say more about that, but this is already getting long.) I'm adding half a star because it's so pretty. 2 1/2 stars