The Golden Compass

In all the excitement around Christmas preparations and the shock of the one day I spent at work between Christmas and New Year, I forgot to post my impressions of the Golden Compass, the film version (as I’m sure you all know) of Northern Lights, my most recently completed read. I have to say that I found myself a bit disappointed – the special effects were wonderful, the casting was on the whole sound, but I felt that the changes that had been made for dramatic purposes detracted from what I thought was a strong, dark story. I’m not a purist about these things; as someone who has read Lord of the Rings more times than I like to admit, I found the changes Peter Jackson made for the film versions did not undermine my enjoyment of them, but that hasn’t been the case here. A missed opportunity, I’m afraid.

I will be very interested to see what the other two films will be like, assuming they go ahead as the box office returns in the US were not as high as expected, which can often scupper future plans.

The Book God, who is half way through the novel, quite enjoyed the film, but has promised to tell me what he thinks in retrospect once he has read the whole book.

By the way, a “Guid New Year ” to one and all!