Parents who've longed for Hermione to knock Harry Potter aside and take a film for herself will be thrilled by Lyra, the heroine of The Golden Compass. A fast-talking, strong-willed twelve-year-old, Lyra is smart and clever, without the usual female-character baggage of being prissy, cute or flirtatious. This is one character you won't mind your daughter imitating on the playground.
On the other hand, you may not want her to see The Golden Compass quite yet. It's rated PG-13 for a reason: it hews closely to the Lord of the Rings model that the studio desperately hopes to capitalize upon. Hence, innocent adventurers find themselves in perilous danger, evil-doers get away with murder, and majestic mythical creatures tear each other's limbs off. Kids at our screening gasped audibly at a bloody animal fight and giggled at the word "lover." Chronicles of Narnia, this is not.
But The Golden Compass succeeds where other childrens' fantasy films have failed, by creating a fully realized parallel universe. Fans of Pullman's book will appreciate the painstaking detail given to the animal "daemons," the Celtic-influenced Gyptian costumes and the halls of the villainous Magisterium. The narrative is hard to follow (i.e., read the book first), and the abrupt ending threw us for a loop, but hey, they've got two movies left to go. Here's hoping they live up to the promise of the first. — Gwynne Watkins
