New Line tried and quite horribly failed at creating the next Lord of the Rings success story. Losing almost $180 million dollars and demolishing the once proud New Line cinema which has since desolved into Warner Brothers, we may never see movie 2 and 3 of this trilogy.

Huge chunks of the original work were left out or twisted. The 416 page book is very well paced and there seems no reasonable explanation why Lyra’s character buildup went by the wayside in this film. If you were expecting Pullman’s storytelling, background and sense of climax you were sorely disappointed.

The film jolts forward at breakneck speed into disjointed scenes leaving important information blowing in the cold Arctic wind. Fans of the books were disappointed at all the missing pieces while those who had not read the trilogy seemed totally clueless as to what all the pretty effects really added up to. There was such poor treatment of the main character it was a wonder if anyone truly cared about Lyra at all! With only 1 hour and 58 minutes to tell her story, it’s no wonder that the character felt too thin even with Dakota Blue Richards fine acting skills.

Taking a look at all the pre-filming Hoo Ha that occurred, one comes to understand why this movie felt empty. While Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) had expressed interest in directing the film, New Line gave the job to newcomer Chris Weitz. Tom Stoppard (Empire of the Sun) had been hired early on (2005) to pen the screenplay but Weitz rejected it in order to write his own. Though Weitz spent a great deal of time prepping himself for the role of “big time director” he resigned sighting among other things the pressure of directing a film that had the potential to be denounced by fans and critics alike. British director Anand Tucker briefly took the helm only to see the return of Weitz as director. This isn’t the first film to suffer the curse of director dysfunction (X-Men: The Last Stand) and it won’t be the last.

While the plot and dialogue are disappointing, the special effects treatment of dæmons, the physical manifestation of a part of one’s soul, was superb. However, there should have been more attention paid to their significance and to the rules of conduct surrounding how people and dæmons interact.

Lastly, the Catholic League and other over zealous Christian Right organizations need not fear this film. The secular humanist approach established in the book has been completely watered down so that is very unlikely that a child viewing the film will even grasp the anti-religious establishment inference. If the Catholic Church sees a parallel between themselves and the Magisterium, then they are admitting that the Inquisition (Intercision in the film) was a bad idea and that the Church has been lead by corrupt officials at certain points in its history! At worst, the movie promotes free-thinking, challenging the norm and questioning authority.

Overall, Compass is a film that had great potential with an excellent cast and intriguing story. Unfortunately, the magic, whimsy and soul just weren’t there.

Director : Chris Weitz

Writer: Chris Weitz (adaptation)

MPAA Rating : PG-13 for fantasy violence