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Movie Review: The Golden Compass

Tuesday, January 8th, 2008

I made it out to see The Golden Compass last night at our local Alamo Drafthouse, the greatest theater ever! The movie was superbly done. I read the books a couple of years ago and I’ve been looking forward to the movie since I saw the first trailer. Nicole Kidman was the perfect choice for Mrs. Coulter. Kidman is brilliant at pulling off the multi-dimensional personality of Mrs. Coulter, shifting easily from charming to icy in seconds. I was happy to see Sam Elliott in the role of the tall Texan, Lee Scorsby, as he was the person I pictured in that role as I read the books. The scenery was exactly as I had imagined it and Iorek the bear, whose voice was given life and character by Shakespearian trained actor, Ian McClellan, was simply amazing. While there were a few scenes that were out of order (the fight between Iorek and the King Ragnar), and a few scenes that were rushed, overall I thought it was a great movie.

For those of you who are banning the movie because it’s “anti-God”, you should definitely read the wonderful article entitled “God in the Dust” written by Donna Freitas for The Boston Globe.

When did it become anti-Christian to question the Bible? Some of the world’s greatest scholars have been theologians. While the author, Phillip Pullman, is indeed an atheist, his books and this movie are more of a statement against those who seek to impose their will and ideals on others while suppressing than it is about attacking religion. The irony is that those Christians sending around emails telling you not to see the movie for various reasons are seeking to do just that. Are these people so insecure in their religion that they can’t handle a few questions?

In any event, it’s a movie whose theological ideas would be completely transparent to a child and would, instead, be magical.

Although I think the books this movie was based on (His Dark Materials) would make excellent reading for young teens, I’d agree with April over at “Life as a Christian Woman“, that the second and third books, at least, are probably too advanced in concept for very young readers.

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