There’s been some controversy about the film The Golden Compass, so I decided to watch it myself. The main complaint is that the film is opposed to religion, specifically God. However, I didn’t find this to be the case, at least not directly. It looks like the film has been watered down from the book, and from some of the things the author himself has said, it’s probably true that there are some symbolisms of opposition to religion and God. But in the film, these really came out more as an opposition to ‘Big Brother’ style government and the Catholic church of ages past.
Several aspects of the film reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia such as the speaking animals, multiple worlds, etc. I particularly liked the polar bear fight, as well as the concept of a polar bear kingdom and society in general. The ending was pretty ambiguous, but this is presumably for a coming sequel.
the WORLD 