- Film Review
- Reviewed By Jamie Russell
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3 out of 5
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy novels already has a place beside the work of JK Rowling (Harry Potter) and CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia); it's only fitting, then, that it has also made the leap from page to screen. The first instalment introduces us to 12-year-old heroine Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) who lives in a magical, neo-Victorian Oxford somewhere in a parallel universe. It's a realm dominated by the all-powerful Magisterium (led by Derek Jacobi) and populated by daemon familiars, flying witches and evil child kidnappers. Darker and more complex than the Harry Potter series, this ambitious family movie occasionally feels rather muddled as it struggles with the novels' intricate, philosophical bent. Director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) rallies with a sprawling battle in the Arctic, an imposing CGI polar bear (voiced by Ian McKellen) and an icy turn from Nicole Kidman as evil Magisterium agent Mrs Coulter. As the beginning of a planned trilogy, it certainly whets the appetite for more.
Plot Summary
Fantasy adventure based on the first in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of novels, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Dakota Blue Richards. In a parallel universe where souls take animal form, orphan girl Lyra has been brought up among the scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. It is there she overhears her uncle, Lord Asriel, talk of a microscopic particle that can pass between different worlds.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Marisa Coulter
- Nicole Kidman
- Lyra Belacqua
- Dakota Blue Richards
- Lee Scoresby
- Sam Elliott
- Serafina Pekkala
- Eva Green
- Lord Asriel
- Daniel Craig
- Farder Corum
- Tom Courtenay
- Magisterial Emmissary
- Derek Jacobi
- Roger
- Ben Walker
- Pantalaimon
- Freddie Highmore
- Fra Pavel
- Simon McBurney
- Iorek Byrnison
- Ian McKellen
- John Faa
- Jim Carter
- Ma Costa
- Clare Higgins
- Master of Jordan College
- Jack Shepherd
- Ragnar Sturlusson
- Ian McShane
- First High Councilor
- Christopher Lee
- Second High Councilor
- Edward De Souza
- Stelmaria
- Kristin Scott Thomas
- Hester
- Kathy Bates
- Mrs Lonsdale
- Magda Szubanski
Crew
- Director
- Chris Weitz
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