By Thomas Ferguson

Fantasy movies have never been quite my thing. Most of the time they are just over the top stories that try to be more than what they really are. Of course, that’s only my opinion. These films are extremely popular with movie audiences. One of the most successful film franchises in this genre, The Lord of the Rings, has even won an Academy Award for best picture. The latest fantasy movie to hit theatres will never be in that league, but it tries so hard to be.

In the Golden Compass, there are two worlds running parallel. There is a world where one’s soul exists outside of that person’s body. Here, animals share the thoughts and feelings of their owners. A person without one of these animals is a person without a soul.

This world is shared by witches who rule the sky, Gyptians(normal people) who rule the sea, and Ice Bears that rule the north. All of these beings are guided by a magical compass, but the only authority in the land, the Magisterium, have destroyed all the compasses(so they think) because they feel they hold the truth to their land. A truth that will only cause turmoil between the creatures of this world.

Lyra Belaqua(Dakota Blue Richards) attends a prestigious school. One day, she overhears a plot to take over the school by Magisterium officials. She also notices that a group of her friends have been kidnapped from the school. She and her heroic uncle Lord Asriel(Daniel Craig) set off on a journey north the rescue her young friends with the aid of the last remaining compass. She also befriends a powerful woman along the way named Marisa Coulter(Nicole Kidman). She seems friendly, but is actually a high ranking Magisterium official who is using the young girl to lead her to the whereabouts of the only golden compass yet to be destroyed.

This story is convoluted and all over the place. My biggest problem here is that there is too much going on. Just like most fantasy movies, the plot is very hard to keep up with. They lose my attention easily. This movie is marketed towards children, but there were plenty of adults confused. Trust me, I wasn’t the only one.

I mean, there were some wonderful special effects and action sequences, but you need a solid story to make me interested. I have seen aspects of this movie in other movies of the past. Those movies were much better I might add.