Based on a book; the Northern Lights, by Philip Pullman, the movie came to life bringing along the string of magical creatures ranging from witches,talking animals in the form of daemons,polar bears involved in an interesting twist of mystical events.
Don't blame me for complaining as I do really like magic and fantasy worlds, BUT aren't we overdose on this genre for this year and the previous?
I mean, I don't mind great adapations nor wizardry but excessive feed can eventually drown you of that interest or enthusiasm since you will be expecting the same storyline of magical characters to appear and some sort of power struggle and prophecies and ultimate battle (where eventually good will triumph over evil OR, just a cliffhanger ending which signals a sequel in the making:p)
Philip Pullman's novel was also a trilogy which was also in the same genre of magical world and his tale was spun on our human world and another parallel world beside us where human beings and their souls are separated and can walk next to them in the form of daemons. This world is governed by the Magisterium; some sort of government for the magical world.
The protagonist of the story was a little girl about the age of 10; Lyra Belacqua,played by Dakota Blue Richards.
Mischievous,free-spirited and strong-willed, Lyra was placed in a school by her uncle, the grave and no-nonsense Lord Asriel who wanted her to be groomed to be a fine young lady in the future.
Played by the new Bond, Daniel Craig, this character is not much of a favourite by the Magisterium who plans to bring him down through death to prevent him from obtaining the mysterious Dust and connecting their world to the human world.
He was a strict and ambitious man, who made the profound discovery of Dust and announces his wish to embark on his journey to the North to do his research which was frowned upon by the Magisterium but was finally approved with the strong support of Lyra's college.
Lyra dreams of going to the North although was forbidden by her uncle that she fell into the embrace of her new acquaintance at the college; Mrs Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman) who seemed to be fond of her and invited her along on her trip to the North; with the college's approval.
And thus, begins an exciting journey as the story slowly uncovers the adventures of this fearless girl in overcoming and dealing with trust, deceit, betrayal and loyalty along the way.
Without revealing too much (spoiler), you can refer to my Movie Bugz for the full story
Overall, the cinematography of the movie was not too bad; and the movie started off on a slow note and builds up to its climax.
The characters were developed to reality; particularly Lyra. However, I must say her acting skills were still mediocre as Daniel Craig's.
The only ones worth watching in this movie were the two ladies; Nicole Kidman and Eva Green who were modest and as usual, stunning in their ways.
I should say this is a rather interesting watch as well if you are into the genre; but do not hope for a kid with magical powers like Harry Potter, Lyra is more realistic as she is just any normal schoolgirl except that she was destined (as usual) to be the only key to read the Golden Compass which answers the question posted by the key holder and reveals in its own way that only the prophesized will know how to read it.
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