It's at the top of our list of must-see films of 2007, so we called upon resident 'Golden Compass" expert/MTV News writer Jennifer Vineyard for her take on the just released trailer for the flick. Check out the trailer and her analysis below (she also filed this 'Golden Compass' for newbies if you're interested).
So, finally, with the trailer for "The Golden Compass," we get to see that New Line's version looks as close to as what Philip Pullman described as possible -- but how does it feel? Does Nicole Kidman make a good Mrs. Coulter? How's Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel? And can Dakota Blue Richards act well enough to make us forget that other Dakota kid? Because as loved as the "His Dark Materials" books are, they're a tough sell -- and any movie based on them is going to run into the same problems.
Luckily for New Line, they've already taken one potential problem -- the anti-organized religion slant -- out of the picture, by playing up the anti-totalitarian angle more. But even more luckily, they have as good of a cast as they can get. Kidman practically eats up the room with one glance as Mrs. Coulter, walking down the corridor as if it's a catwalk. As she should -- she's supposed to exude glamour as well as a hint of danger. It would have been nice to see her golden monkey dæmon, which would reveal more how she really feels, but you can't have it all at once. Craig seems like he has Asriel's sense of command down, but perhaps not all of his foreboding, save for a face-off with Lyra -- but that's okay, since his role doesn't get really juicy until the third installment anyway.
But Eva Green as Serafina and the rest of the witches -- now that's a sight. They don't fly as much as they float -- sans brooms of course -- and their costumes are the color of night. And it certainly doesn't hurt that as a 300-year-old witch who never ages physically, Green looks gorgeous enough to inspire men to worship her.
The story doesn't rest on Kidman, Craig, or Green, though, even if they get better billing. Dakota Blue has to make us care about Lyra -- her fate, her journey, her quest -- and while she gets a few good moments in the trailer, they're not enough for us to know how she's doing. We hear her speak twice -- asking, "What is this?" when given the alethiometer, and declaring, "I need to go north, and fight" -- and shriek once, but otherwise, we just see her in action. Of course, this is just a teaser trailer, and so we'll get more Lyra later -- right now, New Line just has to get us to want it first.
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