Der Goldene Kompass

Digitale Orgien ohne Seele und mit leeren Schauspielkreationen. Dieser Film hat mich am meisten an Die Liga der außergewöhnlichen Gentlemen erinnert. Eine wunderschöne Ausstattung, hochwertige Effekte, viele Schauspielstars. Aber eine interessante Geschichte? Auf keinen Fall. Und was macht Daniel Craig auf einer dominanten Position auf dem Plakat? Die Musik ist durchschnittlich. Wenn es um eine emotionale Atmosphäre geht, ist Alexandre Desplat ein Meister. Ein überwältigender und abenteuerlicher Charakter ist aber nicht sein Ding. (06.12.2007)

Es erzeugt schon ein wenig Respekt, wie es jemandem gelingt, ein Riesenbudget, eine tolle Geschichte sowie eine exzellente Besetzung einfach so zu verballern. Doch Weitz ist wie der eitle Sohn eines Großgrundbesitzers, welcher die Millionen seines Vaters mit Mädchen schlechtem Rufes zum Fenster rauswirft. Der seltsame visuelle Gestank mieft nach Plastik und Buntstiften, das Tempo des Films ist unheimlich unausgeglichen und rutsch ständig knietief in die Erläuterungen hinein, wobei die Schauspielstars in Folge einer inexistenten untergehen. Ja, Kinder sind süß (wie in einem Schokoladenwerbespot), Kidman hat Charme (ähnlich wie 150 weitere süße Hexen), des Gastauftrit eines bärtiger Bonds sowie ein fröhlicher Cowboy aus Big Lebowski erfreuen einen, jedoch nur, weil diese Jungs Charisma unabhängig von dem vermasselten Projekt haben. Weitz erinnert an einen Tölpel, der sich vor den Dreharbeiten Harry Potter und Herr der Ringe reingezogen hat und es dann versucht hat, das eben nachzuahmen. Allerdings ist dies ein sehr schlechter Ersatz, sofern im ganzen Film nichts Interessantes außer digitalem Mischmasch gibt. Vielleicht nur die gelegentlichen Sympathieanfälle für bekannte Stimmen und Gesichter. Geben Sie diesem Mann die großen Budgets nicht mehr, er schafft es nicht einmal seine Domäne vor lauter Tricks zu meistern: Dialoge und Charakterführung. (26.11.2009)

Armored bear fights, flying wild sheep remembering brawls with sailors or kindly ladies with sadistic tendencies - that was too strong of a coffee and surprisingly boring at first. But when I accepted a year later that Compass won't unveil a magical fantasy, everything turned out much better in the end. I just start to regret that we won't see the continuation. The war with Azriel in the main role could have been a spectacular spectacle and a step in the right direction. (15.02.2008)

I know that objectively speaking this movie probably does not deserve that one star, but since I am so disgusted by this movie, l am going to take the liberty of rating it subjectively for once and award it the one star rating for Dakota Blue Richards, who was the only asset to this movie and managed to portray the character of Lyra mostly successfully. I have never been particularly opposed to changes in adapting books to the screen, so long as they make sense, are not arbitrary, and are beneficial to the movie. However, what the screenwriter and probably the producers have done here is downright worth a few hard slaps. To turn such a promising book series, which becomes more sophisticated and more thought-provoking with each installment, into an utterly pointless mishmash, which is clearly aimed at children and where a bunch of interesting ideas are buried or desperately underdeveloped – it is not worth anything but a good smack in the face. Especially the idea of the soul dwelling outside the body in the form of an animal – a daemon – is presented in a completely tragic way, the pace of the movie is downright deathly slow, most of the actors just recite their lines idly, the nonsensical changes compared to the original (why did they cut it off so awkwardly at the end?) and the already rather truncated plot is just tedious. No, I had better not go on listing everything that was wrong here, because it would go on for days. (17.08.2008)

In der Ära der Potter-Manie tauchten recht originelle Fantasy-Streifen auf, die gut und gern allen Pottern das Wasser reichen können. Panzerbären, Harpyjen, Gypter, Mulefa... all diese Figuren und vor allem Dämonen schaffen einen seltsamen, überwältigenden Zauber. Daniel Craig und Eva Green erneut zusammen, wenngleich etwas anders als in James Bond :-) In meiner Euphorie kaufte ich mir gleich die restlichen zwei Teile der Buchserie. Und ich hoffe, dass die Dreharbeiten weitergehen. (23.12.2007)

I can imagine that the book can be interesting, that it would catch my attention, but this movie was simply one big disappointment. The effects are quite well done and it's clear that the creators had fun with it, but overall the story is presented so unbelievably dull that it didn't entertain me at all, and I didn't care who famous was playing there. It's a shame, but maybe I will give the book a chance someday. (07.04.2015)

Qualitatively somewhere between The Chronicles of Narnia (I've only seen one) and Stardust, though it still falls far short of Vaughn's film – maybe even father than Bolvangar. Aside from a slight political touch in the skeleton of the story, there's not really much to review – on a $180 million budget, the effects will simply be aesthetically pleasing, the exteriors will shine, and the sound will be properly punchy and epic at "key moments" (in contrast to the bland and flavorless soundtrack). The comparison here is more about how that Matthew Vaughn guy actually managed to make the wonderfully epic, funny, and much better-rated Stardust on a budget lower than $100 million. The problem with The Golden Compass may also be in its use of acting potential – the film is 80% percent based on Dakota Blue Richards, who is admittedly excellent in her child role, but the few minutes of screen presence for big names like Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman (okay, she's the only one with a bit more space), Christopher Lee, and Ian McKellen is striking and inevitably makes you feel that their involvement was merely a (though clearly well calculated) marketing ploy. I won't deny that I also took the film home because of its proclaimed "star-studded" cast, but in that respect The Golden Compass disappointed me. The use of the potential of the "small characters" in Stardust (e.g. Ricky Gervais), the amount of space given to the ace actors, and the overall likeable, funny, yet completely professional execution made a much better and more enjoyable impression on me. In fact, Chris Weitz has "succeeded" with The Golden Compass with the opposite of what Matthew Vaughn did so brilliantly in Stardust. In this case, I'd call it a pointless odyssey that arrives at a final state where a lot of money made a little music (which is the exact opposite of Stardust). The third star was saved by a few nice touching moments, and that's only because I'm an overly sensitive soul :)) (30.04.2012)