Golden Compass Needs Direction

How the movie, Golden Compass, could be considered controversial is beyond me. The naming the "souls" daemons was the only element that seemed jarring in this interminably boring piece of fantasy. All the pieces were there and we took off on the journey with the young protagonist, but it never seemed to become interesting.

We have a young girl of unknown parentage who is the only one capable of reading a golden compass that tells the truth of a situation. Her friends are captured and taken away to have their "souls" separated from them so they cannot become dissatisfied with the lovely life the Authorities have planned for them. Of course, she sets out to rescue them and meets fantasy characters along the way.

Rather than a tight knit comradeship, this fellowship is fluid with characters coming and going and disappearing from the plot only to reappear later. It's very tiring. The viewers have no chance to become a part of the journey and end up as spectators waiting for some kind of bonding to occur.

And--heaven help us!--there's an open ending suggesting a sequel.

The Dark Knight

Finally, "The Dark Knight" has arrived to save Gotham City once again. Unfortunately, you may not recognize this Batman as the same one from the other movies. The political aspects of this movie seemed to dominate over the action in my opinion. Perhaps the pre-release hype built expectations too high, but I didn't feel there were stellar performances by anyone in this movie, including Heath Ledger (sorry). You will still want to see this movie to keep up with the storyline of Batman. Just don't expect the best Batman movie ever.