Green Tee Readings

Since I managed to see a movie when discussion of it might be marginally relevant, I think I’ll add a few words. I largely agree with Chad Orzel’s review, and I think that every significant flaw in the movie could be fixed by making it longer.

Spoilers and a further review after the fold

Like Chad, it’s been a while since I read the novel, but I think I remember a bit more than he did, because I kept having a nagging feeling that the movie was the book on fast-forward. I don’t remember the reveal that Ms. Coulter’s golden monkey dæmon was evil quite so soon, and I constantly thought that Lyra had more time in each of the locales.

Plot points feel Miss Coulter would not just give Lyra the key to defeating the false bear king withing 3 minutes of meeting her. It makes no sense to divulge that kind of weakness so soon, unless you knew you had no time for actual character growth.

That lack of character growth gives the movie a pretty dry feeling. Since I know almost nothing about Billy Costa, other than his status as a Cute Little Rascal, his de-dæmon-ing lacks any visceral impact. Everyone else in the movie suffers from the same one-note character fate. Iorek is the Wronged King-In-Exile, Serafina Pekkala is the Mysterious Sage (whose full name is Always Pronounced), Lee Scoresby is the Adventurous Cowboy With a Heart Of Gold, and Lord Asriel is the Mysterious, Rebellious Stranger/Uncle.

Lyra and Miss Coulter are the only two with any hope of growth and change, Lyra because as the star of the movie she damn well better, and Miss Coulter because her character might have the slightest bit of nuance with the opposing forces of the Magisterium and Motherhood pulling at her.

The pace of the movie does a disservice to the plot, relegating plot points to the life of a bowling pin. To switch to a different metaphor, the movie, and by extension the audience, never really gets a chance to set its feet and get a good firm* stance on the ground it is about to travel, and continually has the ground drop away from it, revealing something else never hinted at before. It really feels like it’s being pulled by the Authorial Hand, not by the force of a well told story.

If you don’t expect much more than a very quickly told story with no ability to see if there’s anything going on below the surface, you’ll probably enjoy the movie.

No Comments yet »