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I can't figure where I've posted about this before. Oh well, here goes.

I LOVE the book trilogy. It's probably my absolute favorite, even ahead of Lord of the Rings. Those books have been with me through some adventures, even literally. I have also made it known that I despise book to film adaptations, as most fall utterly flat. DK can attest to that, cause she always complains that I complain too much about that. mrgreen

I watched a pirated handheld camera version when it came out in theaters. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I didn't hate it. eek Which is a feat, let me tell ya. It's much more pleasant to see the Academy Award winning effects, for sure. wink

I adore Dakota Blue's performance. It hard to tell that this is her first movie. She carries the whole thing, with style. She'll be a star someday.

Mrs. Coulter was flawlessly played by Nicole Kidman, who was handpicked by Philip Pullman (the author) for the part. She's icy cold and eerie, just like she should be.

I HATED Lord Asriel being played by Daniel Craig. He's supposed to be pure evil. You're supposed to be so scared by him that you shudder every time his name is mentioned. Pullman's choice, Jason Isaacs would have been much better for that. Evil, not nice. That's all I got from him. He was a nice guy to Lyra, which just feels off. (Though I am trying to decide if the difference could eventually mean something cooler down the line. But then I would have even more spoilers for the Amber Spyglass....)

Ian McKellan, Lee Scoresby, Serafina Pekkala, Ma Costa, Farder Coram, John Faa and the Master of Jordan were all solid casting choices. Pantalaimon (who I also can't mention why he's so awesome without causing major Amber Spyglass spoilers) is voiced by Freddie Highmore, after being advertised as being voiced by Adam Godley up until the release. I think he did alright thus far, though he sounds completely different (adult) here than anywhere else.

Plotwise, having the Magesterium's role in the movie "minimized" drew more attention to the parallels to Catholicism than anything else. All this religious attention about boycotting the movie and it being "anti-Catholic" is unwarranted. Pullman is a staunch atheist/agnostic, but he had little to do with the movie itself. The books are fantasy/scifi and should be taken as such.

At first, I disliked the change to the famed Retiring Room beginning, but I'm coming around to the scene changes. It sort of helps the movie pacing, especially the Bolvangar/Svalbard switch.

Although, I think the test audiences for the movie were on drugs. They were the reason that we don't get the same ending as the book, which is a shame. It's sad, tragic, epic and heartbreaking, which leaves the worst cliffhanger into The Subtle Knife. It's so cinematic it's not even funny. whee But they wanted a "happy" ending, so we get all the action that would have left everyone BEGGING for the next movie and left the end flat like an old can of Pepsi. There's no resonance. There's no conclusion. There's no emotion. Everything's left far too quiet and no one will care if they actually make another sequel. Which sucks. *sigh*

It pisses me off that they would cut ALL the good stuff from the book out of the movie I couldn't even get through half the movie before I had to stop watching that pile of crap they thought they could call 'Golden compass'