Reviews by Matt

I like to think of myself as an easy-going guy. I am easy to please. Heck, I am a breeze to shop for when Christmas rolls around, buy me a DVD and I will be happy. There are a few things out there that really annoy me. The biggest is stupid people. When certain movies are released, there are groups who boycott it for one reason or another. They worry that the movie is offensive to whatever their viewpoint is.

“The Golden Compass” is one of those movies.

Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) lives in a parallel universe where humans have animal counterparts called daemons. Lyra has grown up on a campus where she has been taught from a very young age. There has been talk of Dust, small particles that could be used to unite all the worlds together. The Magisterium, who rule this alternate world, want to stop this at any cost. Her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) heads north to study the Dust, and Layra learns that the Magisterium is after him. She is given an alethiometer, a golden compass that can tell the truth to use on her trip.

In a time where these grand epic adventures at the movie theater are commonplace, this is nothing special. If you want amazing and spectacular movies watch “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy” or “The Chronicles of Narnia.” It is still a good movie, the visuals are stunning and it is a nice escape from the run-of-the-mill action dramas.

As far as performances go, the lead, Dakota Blue Richards, is not as strong as it could be, but she delivers a good performance for being only 13. With actors like Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, she holds her own.

The visuals are really good. The landscapes are beautifully done and the computer-animated animals look great. The daemons look real, but at the same time they are very obviously not real.

Here is the real reason I am writing this. I need to vent. I did this in my DaVinci Code review I feel that the outrage is completely ridiculous. It is only a movie, or a book (my feelings are the same in regards for the book too).

I understand that the author is an atheist and that there are apparent anti-religion overtones in the later books. I do not care what the guy believes anymore than I care what he ate for breakfast on the morning he decided to write the book. Whatever he believes is his business and he can do whatever he wants.

Here is where I take issue. There are people who are boycotting the movie because of the supposed overtones. People are worried that the movie/book is teaching or encouraging atheism. Pardon my frankness here, but if you are stupid enough to have your beliefs changed because of a movie or even a novel, then you deserve it. If you want your religious views changed then you are the one to change them, if you do not, then there is no movie, book or person who can. It is all about the strength of your own beliefs. If a movie changes what you believe then maybe you did not believe it that strongly in the first place.

What I am trying to say is, do not let anything or anyone tell you what to believe. If you want to believe that little gremlins are responsible for making a light turn on, good for you. As long as you do not hurt anyone else you can believe and do whatever you want.

7 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence.
113 min