Movie night: 'The Golden Compass'

It was another movie night for all company employees. I missed the previous movie nights (Beowulf, for one), so I wasn't about to miss out on the last one for the year.

Based on Philip Pullman's Northern Lights (part of his Dark Materials trilogy -- ohnoes, not another one!), the film portrays the quest of an orphan destined to lead the fight against evil, for -- among others -- free will and self-determination. The antagonist is the evil authoritarian Magisterium, a finicky antagonist, and a bit O.C., too, what with its obsession against "dust".

The visuals are stunning, as one would expect from any multimillion-dollar fantasy flick, and the actors are quite engaging. Nicole Kidman's character, the Coulter "woman", is a cunning villain who plots and does the Magisterium's bidding. James Bond's Daniel Craig is also cast in an almost cameo role -- heck, we only see him for about 15 minutes, tops.

What was embedded in my mind, though, are the armoured ice bears, a warrior race in the north, where war is "breathe like air, drank like water". They remind me of the polar bears in the Coca Cola ads:

Nice. :)

Despite the supposed bad press it's getting -- that it's a diatribe against organized religion and authority -- the film somehow dilutes it. There wasn't enough tension, not enough build up of conflict that would have made the story richer and more engaging. But, heck, it was fun, and it's just a movie! I give it four snow flakes.