The Golden Compass stars Nicole Kidman (Mrs. Marisa Coulter), Daniel Craig (Lord Asriel) and Dakota Blue Richards (Lyra Belacqua). Sir Ian McKellen offers some voice work. It’s directed by Chris Weitz (American Pie 1 and 2, producer; About a Boy, writer; ), who also adapted the screenplay from Philip Pullman’s novel of the same name.

As you might already know, The Golden Compass is a subject of controversy in the Catholic Church, with the highest authority, the Pope himself, calling it a “godless” movie. It seems to have shown some early promise then tanked in North America, but is doing well overseas.

I have to say that while I have a copy of the book from years ago, I haven’t read it. But the movie’s story – which supposedly toned down the religious elements – struck me as being very odd, and I think I can see why the Pope calls it “godless”.

In many fantastical tales, characters might sometimes have a “familiar”, who is their muse, their confidant. Famliars are sentient creatures said to take the form of animals – often cats. In The Golden Compass, the explanation given (see the video clip below) is that in a parallel world, each person’s soul is not within the body but walks beside them in animal form that are called “demons”.

Why Pullman chose to call them “demons” beats me. (Assuming that is his doing and not Chris Weitz’.) And no God is ever mentioned. This might not be surprising if you know that Pullman is an avowed atheist. But a universe where there are “demons” but not god(s) seems very odd for storytelling purposes. It seems like a world without hope. This is no doubt the reason the Pope called this movie “godless”.

This huge controversy aside, I found the movie to be a mix of impressiveness and disappointment. On the plus side, the CGI creatures were incredible. On the minus side, I couldn’t follow the story. There is far too much whispering going on, especially from Nicole Kidman’s character, Mrs. Coulter. I found her character very confusing: sinister one moment and nurturing the next, without explanation or even apparent motivation. Though I’m surprised to say that Kidman does the sinister part quite well.

There also seem to be far too many protagonists. Maybe the novel reads better than the movie plays out, but The Golden Compass was one of my least favorite “fantastical” movies – computer graphics not withstanding.

If you consider potential future DVD sales, the movie might not do so bad overall. The old way of doing business only looks at the early box office receipts. But with the Internet as a potential distribution vehicle (especially with Apple entering the online movie rental business) to supplement DVD sales, The Golden Compass and other movies that don’t do well in theaters still have a chance.

Though even if they do will in after-theater sales, that doesn’t necessarily justify the making of sequels. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman reportedly want a lot of money to appear in The Golden Compass’ sequels. Kidman has already been declared one of the most overpaid actors, and this movie won’t help if after-theater sales don’t make up for poor North American box office receipts.

Two more Pullman novels are currently being adapted into movies: The Butterfly Tattoo (2008) and The Subtle Knife (2009). The latter also features the Lyra Belacqua lead character from the Golden Compass, though I don’t know if it’s a sequel.

The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman as the villainess Mrs. Coulter, had a lackluster opening the first weekend, and even poorer this past weekend – trumped by Will Smith’s I Am Legend and even Alvin and the Chipmunks.

It probably doesn’t help that the movie has been the subject of Christian religious controversy. Recently, Catholic bishops in the U.S. asked that a review of the movie be removed the website of the Catholic News Service.

Word is that the movie eliminated some of the relgious elements that the book had. While I haven’t seen the movie, it appears that this decision actually did more harm than good – though it’s possible I’m mistaken.

I received a hardcover copy of the book in the mid-90s, but misplaced it and thus never read it. The book cover and the movie trailers are very visually rich, and on that basis alone would I watch the movie, regardless of any controversy. A clip is shown below, and galleries are available at the official Golden Compass movie site.