| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
B |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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A parent's informed choice
by indigomoon (movies profile)
Jun 15, 2008
63
of
73 people found this review helpful
First off as a parent I have to say my very sensitive 8 yr old loved it...I was concerned it would be too mature for him....but he paused at least 4 times during the movie to tell me how "cool" it was.
You may wonder why I didn't give it an A, since if I based it on my children's enjoyment it would be. Mainly because as an adult I was able to make the connection between what I felt were abrupt storyline shifts that probably should have been more detailed for younger viewers. And the ending..I don't think I've ever seen a more obvious "stop" to a film that pointed to a sequel without necessarily ending the first film in its own right. (At least Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and even LOTR fell like they can and do stand on their own individually, whereas this movie left me going..."that's it??" (My kids even left the theater asking me where the rest of the movie was...I told them they had to wait for a sequel)
NOW..as for the whole religious uprising over this movie. First I would ask before you judge you watch it with unbiased eyes. Had I not heard of the whole fanatic Christian uprising over it I never would have even "seen" the magisterium (governing body) in the movie as the church...I understand that the original author may have used his novels as a media from which to question these topics but THEY are not evident in the movie at all. In my opinion the magisterium were presented as a dictorial governing body (and like any government body there are both good and bad examples as seen in our own current world environment)...I didn't hear the term God, religion or church in the whole film. Again I want to emphasize that the magisterium are treated as corrupt leadership. To classify the governing body within this movie as the representation of a real life religious organization seems a bit farfetched and overly fanatical without warrant.
It amazes me that groups like the Catholic League (which are really no more than one guy behind a corporate name and newsletter..see for yourself I didn't make this up..seach the group's name on wikipedia or any other online encyclopedia) can incite such broadbased bigotry and blind censorship. (Perhaps he fears if his readers see the movie they may realize they don't take advantage of their own free will and reasoning???)...Sorry I couldn't resist that but really I can't stand when people manipulate any form of religion to create organized censorship in any way. (And I had never even heard of the Catholic League until the first "ban" of this movie was called for)
Ultimately this movies reminds us all to use our own minds and reasoning to make decisions based on free will, which last I checked was a vital part of the Christian faith.
The irony...the movie WAS approved by the US Catholic Bishops USCCB(A group of far MORE than one man)
http:// www. usccb. org/ movies/g/thegoldencompass.shtml
(Remove the "spaces" to get the proper link, and thanks to another poster who gave me idea how to link it here)
My only wish is that people would just take the time to educate themselves from unbiased sources before they bash this movie or attempt to censor it in anyway.
Note: I raise my children with strict morals and a strong faith. I set out to make an informed decision about this movie before I took them to see it. This is the first time I've ever written a review, and I did so mainly to address all the negative commentary and irrational "religious" babble surrounding this movie that seems based more in heresay than fact.
*Oh, and by the way, I'm not even Catholic...*smile* |
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