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(1 - 50) of 51 OFCS Rating: 39% Rotten Page   12   > Next "With her intelligent and energetic performance, newcomer Dakota Blue Richards captures our interest as the spunky young heroine in The Golden Compass."   ReelTalk Movie Reviews   Betty Jo Tucker C- "This series has promise, but The Golden Compass is a letdown."   FromTheBalcony   Bill Clark 3/5 "As a stand alone effort, something styled to entertain us now, The Golden Compass is incomplete."   PopMatters   Bill Gibron B "Golden Compass is one wordy endeavor, but it gallops to satisfaction, rising above significant adaptation odds to form a semi-coherent, lively fantasia of monsters and warriors."   OhmyNews.com   Brian Orndorf C- "Screenwriter/director Chris Weitz's spotty filmic adaptation never locates a throughline to the convoluted narrative."   ColeSmithey.com   Cole Smithey "Suggesting at once Mrs. Coulter's devotion to her Magisterial mission, her fears of soulful and sensual embodiment, and yes, her own split self, her slap-and-hug of her damon all but stops the film's action."   PopMatters   Cynthia Fuchs 55/100 "The Golden Compass bears the brush strokes of a film produced by a committee of people intent on trying to make some money rather than a good movie."   Apollo Guide   Dan Jardine 2.5/4 "... plays too innocent with its premise, seldom allows its characters to gain dimension, and all but ignores the looming instinct of the plot to abandon its innocence and begin discovering the dark little secrets of the writer's complex world."   Cinemaphile.org   David Keyes 2/4 "...the film possesses few attributes designed to draw in (and hold the interest of) neophytes."   Reel Film Reviews   David Nusair C+ "Makes bland with the subversive mythological and religious subject matter... ."   Ozus' World Movie Reviews   Dennis Schwartz 3.5/4 "An auspicious and grandiose entertainment. Thoroughly immersive and genuinely wondrous."   TheMovieBoy.com   Dustin Putman C+ "Weitz has the narrative leaping around frantically, managing to set up some interesting sequences but not much ongoing momentum."   EricDSnider.com   Eric D. Snider C "The problem is not that The Golden Compass has been stripped of its rabble-rousing anti-Christian content, though it surely has been. The problem is that the rest of it has been sterilized too."   Film Blather   Eugene Novikov C "There's an emptiness at the heart of The Golden Compass that all the visual pizzazz and star power in the world can't fill."   One Guy's Opinion   Frank Swietek 4/5 "We hope that youth will take to heart this movie which calls us to be wary of all authoritarian institutions that stifle the soul and the spiritual search for truth."   Spirituality and Practice   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat 2.5/4 "Writer/director Chris Weitz brings a style that is more obligatory than deft. Constrained by a rushed feel and too little character development, this movie never seems to flow quite right."   ReelViews   James Berardinelli "A decent -- if somewhat cursory -- adaptation of the popular children's fantasy adventure."   Sci-Fi Movie Page   James O'Ehley 3/4 "Performances lend heft and humanity to the overriding whimsy."   Palo Alto Weekly   Jeanne Aufmuth 5/10 "So much of the movie is just explanatory and expository dialogues and monologues. New characters, new concepts = more explanations. And lots of backstories."   Window to the Movies   Jeffrey Chen 5/10 "Certainly never boring, the film nevertheless feels too much like an introduction (and occasionally a discombobulated and less than emotionally engaging one at that) rather than a standalone piece of entertainment."   Screen It!   Jim Judy 3/4 "Writer-director Chris Weitz winnows down Philip Pullman's dense, unwieldy universe into a zippy, if not entirely thrilling, two hours."   Big Picture Big Sound   Joe Lozito 6/10 "...if I hadn't liked Pullman's books so much, I probably would have liked this movie version more than I did."   DVDTown.com   John J. Puccio 5/10 "Like every other story that pits the Haves against the Have-Nots."   Planet Sick-Boy   Jon Popick 1.5/4 "All the pieces combined feel like nothing more than a barrage of exquisitely crafted names"   Bangitout.com   Jordan Hiller 2/5 "koyrastika amihani kai sygkehymeni kritiki sto thriskeytiko systima, den parehei oyte kata dianoia arketo allothi gia toys ano ton 16 na asholithoyn idiaitera me aytin tin yperparagogi, poy ehei aytapates megaleioy tin ora poy pashei sto rythmo kai ti syn"   Movies for the Masses   Joseph Proimakis 2/5 "Read this review, skip this movie, and instead read the excellent books. Poor Dakota Blue Fanning is the perfect Lyra in a terrible adaptation."   Cinerina   Karina Montgomery 2.5/5 "Put away your picket signs."   Film-Forward.com   Kent Turner 3.0/4.0 "For a film that supposedly promotes Atheism, at least it's more entertaining than last year's Christian allegory The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe."   MovieCrypt.com   Kevin A. Ranson 3.5/5 "Rather than saying, 'I wonder if the Magisterium is supposed to represent the modern Catholic church?,' say 'Wow! Two polar bears beating the shale out of each other. Cool!'"   7M Pictures   Kevin Carr "More thought seems to have went into providing grist for future [sequels] that have not been made than the film that was."   Pretentious Musings   Kevin Koehler B+ "It has enough strong elements to make it endure as a family classic and leave us wanting more."   Reeling Reviews   Laura Clifford 2/4 "For all the complicated backstory, weighty themes, action set pieces and fanciful production design, the film is oddly unengaging."   TV Guide's Movie Guide   Maitland McDonagh 2/4 "An undemanding, blunt, simplified adaptation."   Mark Reviews Movies   Mark Dujsik "[A] magnificent slice of cinematic fantasy, perhaps the most perfect blending of live action and CGI ever..."   Flick Filosopher   MaryAnn Johanson 2/5 "Deus ex machina ... is the only driving force."   Goatdog's Movies   Michael W. Phillips, Jr. 2/4 "I heard the dialogue, I saw the images, but I never got into the story. I was always aware that I was sitting in a theater watching a movie."   Aisle Seat   Mike McGranaghan B+ "Sweeping, imaginative, epic, thrilling."   Beliefnet   Nell Minow 1.5/4 "Chris Weitz crams his story full of magical terms and concepts with a rapidity that leaves things confusing and thus meaningless."   Slant Magazine   Nick Schager 2/5 "My devotion to Jesus and love for my fellow man have been replaced with profound emptiness and contempt, and I have The Golden Compass to thank for it."   Film Threat   Pete Vonder Haar "Come back, "Eragon"--all is forgiven!"   eFilmCritic.com   Peter Sobczynski 3.5/5 "Exciting and entertaining, although the complicated array of characters makes it sometimes hard-going."   Shadows on the Wall   Rich Cline C- "Like its protagonists, The Golden Compass stands fundamentally isolated from its soul; unlike them, it hasn't the first idea where it left the bloody thing."   Flipside Movie Emporium   Rob Vaux B "An entertaining film with plenty of action and interesting characters."   Laramie Movie Scope   Robert Roten B+ "Top notch holiday season entertainment."   Reeling Reviews   Robin Clifford 4/5 "It's presented with such color and confidence that it's tough not to get swept up in the spectacle of it all."   Cinematical   Scott Weinberg "This is the kind of movie that was made by throwing dollars at stuff, as opposed to using imagination, thought or even just common sense."   Salon.com   Stephanie Zacharek D "Neophytes may be left in the dust for lack of narrative connections and clarifications, while Pullman admirers of all stripes may feel short-changed on mood and atmosphere."   Decent Films Guide   Steven D. Greydanus 5/10 "Light on plot and philosophy, it's heavy on CGI animals, particularly a spectacular showdown between two armored polar bears."   www.susangranger.com   Susan Granger 5/10 "Covering too much ground in too little time leaves the film feeling shallow and inchoate."   Antagony & Ecstasy   Tim Brayton 0/4 "The worst crime of a film like this is that not only is it retarded, it expects its audience to be retarded as well."   Film Freak Central   Walter Chaw  (1 - 50) of 51 OFCS Rating: 39% Rotten Page   12   > Next