Allow me to take you back to the wispy young year of 2007. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is gearing up for a release, Ratatouille and No Country for Old Men is tearing up the film scene.
Most important to this story, The Golden Compass causes a near Catholic uprising.
A brief preamble to this is probably necessary. So the movie The Golden Compass was based off of the highly loved and controversial books aptly named His Dark Materials.
A story about a young girl named Lyra who discovers secrets that are kept under wrap by a religious totalitarianism.
If that brief description didn’t seem like something that should cause a widespread stir, well you’re not exactly alone. The book used its fantasy setting to tell a story that took aim at numerous historical atrocities by various dictators.
Things weren’t helped by the inclusion of things like Daemons that were initially revered by the people. Drawing some uncomfortable parallels.
What you need to gather from this was that while it found a cult following, the movie was doomed from the start. Too much of the media painted the film in a negative light.
This would inevitably led to the director removing much of the story that involved the religious/government criticisms.
As the Old Adage Goes; With Age Comes Wisdom
Now the year is a broader 2019, and His Dark Materials got a second chance via the BBC in collaboration with HBO. And the result, well at the very least; it’s been receiving next to zero controversy.
His Dark Materials is not only a beautiful adaptation of the titular book, but also a fantastic series in general.
Whether it’s the stellar performances from Dafne Keen or James McAvoy, the fantastic cinematography or the timely story.
Perhaps the most surprising about this series release, is that it is infinitely more accurate to the book than the 2007 movie was.
Who knows, maybe we all grew up a little bit and chose to give this series the more widespread view that it initially deserved.
Besides that, it couldn’t hurt that the series is a much better look at the book than the movie was.
Have you seen His Dark Materials? What did you think of it? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and subscribe to our YouTube channel for content that does not always make its way to the site!
