The Golden Compass (movie)

This is probably the best book-to-film adaptation I've seen in a while. My friends who hadn't read the book said it was confusing, though. Which I guess I can understand: it seemed they rushed it by cutting out details while still including most of the plot points of the book. There were a few key changes, one of which was just to make it less violent, which I suppose I'm okay with, though, I hope they don't censor anything in the ones to come (if those are made). I know the religious overtones are pretty controversial (it was banned in Canada!) but if they change them that would destroy the basic premise. Anyway, my biggest issue was with the ending. I wish they had kept the original one, though I guess since they didn't know if they were making another, this one was better for that. Altogether, I was fairly pleased. The attention to details from the book was often superb, and that's always cool.

Grade: A-