The Golden Compass

Often the best or most memorable movies you ever watch are those you expected little from. The success of Shawshank Redemption when it came to video is a prime example. A film that did very little at the cinema can now be found in the top three of every 'top 100 films' list, perhaps because nobody was that bothered about it to begin with.

When King Kong was released in 2005, Peter Jackson, director of Lord Of The Rings, was touted as having produced his next masterpiece. It turned out to be about a week long, with only one day of that week being remotely exciting (the day when Kong had a scrap with a dinosaur). Expectation was huge, but the result was disappointing.

New Line Cinema, who collaborated with Peter Jackson to make LOTR, released their latest fantastical book adaptation this week. Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials is a series of books, the first of which is entitled Northern Lights. The book is also known in America as The Golden Compass, which serves as the title of the first film re-written for screen by American Pie producer Chris Weitz.

Fantastic casting made this film a mouth-watering prospect. Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Eva Green play a Lord, a glamourous socialite and a witch, respectively. Sir Ian McKellen is the voice of an armoured bear, named Iorek Byrnison, who can be seen in the trailer doing battle with another bear. The computer graphics that animate their fighting are flawless.

The story is set in another dimension very similar to our own, but with slightly more interesting characters, where people's souls appear externally in the form of a daemon. These daemons are animals which are representations of their human companions, with nice people generally having cuddly rabbits for friends and nasty 'sorts' having a grizzly, slobbering wolf for a daemon.

The story follows the progress of a young girl with the unique ability to read the golden compass, called Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards), who is consequently subject to numerous kidnapping attempts as she journeys to save her friend, Roger (Ben Walker). She is befriended by Marisa Coulter, played by Nicole Kidman, who offers to take Lyra away from her lonely and boring life in Oxford. It soon becomes apparent that Marisa isn't all she appears to be.

Initial signs show Marisa Coulter to be a fairly pleasant character, but her evil monkey daemon is quite a give-away when it comes to working out her psyche. This is a fairly persistent theme of the film, with the nasty and nice animals leaving little to the imagination. The frequent attempts to kidnap Lyra come during her journey to save her friend, Roger, who has also been kidnapped by an underground force known as the gobblers.

Many friends and acquaintances she meets on the way aid her task. There’s a group of men with Norfolk accents, an armoured bear (Sir Ian McKellen), and even a witch (Eva Green) pops by to spare some advice. For a young girl she remains ridiculously un-phased throughout all her meetings. Witches and bears are bound to be a little scary, but men from Norfolk are surely enough to bring down even the most fearless of foes!

Needless to say she eventually finds Roger relatively unharmed. At this point a huge fight ensues between some vaguely memorable characters who previously made an appearance in the film, even if it was just to say hello. There are a couple of armies that arrive without even explaining who they are or why they're there, perhaps they just wanted a brawl. A rabble of people, daemons, witches and bears have a fight for reasons only known to themselves, and then Roger appears to thank Lyra for saving him. All that remained was a few carefully placed words to setup the sequel.

The relentless introduction of characters made this film incredibly confusing and boring. It was difficult to get attached to anyone apart from Lyra, who gave no indication that she might ever fail in her task of finding Roger. Unfortunately I'd anticipated too much, having even gone to the length of 'finding out my daemon' on the film's website. It was a lynx, which apparently mirrors my character. If this film had a daemon I think it would be a slug, sliming its way to a tedious conclusion.

American Gangster

The late 90's brought us cockney gangster movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch - the works of Guy Ritchie. Later on he married Madonna, poor thing, and his good friend Matthew Vaughn introduced Daniel Craig to a wider audience with the stylish thriller, Layer Cake. After a while, though, everyone got fed up with mockney accents and Vinnie Jones pretending to be an actor, so it's no surprise that English director Ridley Scott decided to make an American Gangster movie.

He recruited a couple of Hollywood heavyweights by the names of Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, who between them have several Academy Awards. This film might just win them a few more, as they play-off against each other in the roles of gang-chief Frank Lucas (Washington) and maverick cop Richie Roberts (Crowe). This film is surely a potential nominee for the Academy to consider.

American Gangster is a film primarily about drugs. The 18 certificate it received is unsurprising given the frequent references to heroin addicton, in a movie that is based on a true story. It also examines the success achieved by Frank Lucas as a result of selling drugs, as well as mirroring a strict structure of rules normally used by the Italian Mafia. The corruption that is rife within the police force plays a telling factor in both the lives of Lucas and Roberts, as they seek avoid the greedy hands of the corrupted.

Frank Lucas creates his Italian Mafia family structure within the confines of the Harlem projects, a housing scheme introduced to America that is commonly referred to as the ghetto. His success is dependant on importing drugs via the army during the Vietnam War, but also on Huey Lucas, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who holds his trust as his right-hand man. Lucas himself, who is only focused and determined on building his empire, doesn't use the drugs that fund his success.

Roberts is charged with the task of tracking Lucas down, but is hindered by the corruption and mistrust that is drowning the legal system. Cash embezzling and drug taking tempt even his own partner, leaving Roberts with only himself to rely on. During these difficult times Roberts' ex-wife is also fighting for custody of his son, causing him even more stress while he battles to bring Lucas down.

The performances of Crowe, and particularly Washington, are superb. Crowe settles into the role of a 70's New York cop with ease. Stereotyping of his Hawaiian shirt-wearing character was abundant, including making his methods unorthodox, but giving him a heart of gold and making sure he gets results! Washington, however, had a more difficult task of portraying such a successful protagonist in a bad light. The way Lucas dresses, the way he lives, even the fact he takes his mother to church every Sunday makes him a very likeable character. The director, Ridley Scott, includes sequences of drug taking that prove Lucas to be a bad apple, supported by Washington's display of a man who will stop at nothing to make money.

Both leading men have their own battles to fight during the film and rarely have anything to do with each other until the end, ultimately coming together to form a thrilling finish. The performance of Chiwetel Ejiofor should be merited, as he becomes more accomplished as a Hollywood actor. His British accent wasn't to be heard as he achieved an American drawl without flaw. I was on the edge of my seat to see if he would break into a good old cockney sing-a-long and it would be a Guy Ritchie gangster flick all over again. Fortunately he stayed with the film title, which proved to be an eye-opening representation of an American Gangster.

Johnny Depp

In the glitz and glamour of Hollywood it takes a strong character to stand out in the crowd. Johnny Depp has made a habit throughout his career of picking the parts of colourful personalities, when perhaps it would've been easier and even more beneficial to choose a simpler role. However, the dedication shown to his selections has been fruitful for Johnny, who now has the pick of the roles he has always sought. He has proved himself to be a strong character.

His turns as infamous eccentrics like Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and Edward Scissorhands (1990), were relatively well received by mainstream cinema audiences. Both films were directed by Tim Burton, who will collaborate with Depp once more for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, due for release next year. Helena Bonham Carter, another regular of Burton's movies, will be included in a cast featuring Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen and Alan Rickman.

Any feverous anticipation that previously awaited the latest Burton/Depp movie was strictly reserved to a cult following in the past. Those who wore ninety percent black attire, lived in their attics and dabbled with witchcraft would be awaiting the next instalment from the duo. It was in 2003 that something happened forcing them to rethink the attic and move onto a boat instead. That something was Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Curse of the Black Pearl would be the first of a trilogy of pirate movies starring Johnny Depp as the mischievous Jack Sparrow. It would also launch Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley into the Hollywood atmosphere, while making Depp's star shine brighter than ever before. He had gone beyond bland mainstream compliments and distinguished himself as a unique movie icon, comparable to the stars that littered Hollywood in the days of the silver screen.

When his next film is released he will receive the focus of a far wider audience than he had previously, having acquired new fans from the success of Pirates of the Caribbean. Whether they are prepared for his portrayal of a homicidal barber or not remains to be seen, frankly I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. The family viewing appeal of Pirates of the Caribbean has created a following of young teenage fans, which might be too young for his other rumoured project, Sin City 2. The previous incarnation of the graphic novel, by Frank Miller, featured sex, guns and lots of bloody violence.

With his profile raised to new heights it will be interesting to see if Depp's performances still embody the bizarre characteristics of the oddball personalities he plays. All eyes will be on Sweeney Todd, which if convincing may see a sudden rise in hair growth. It could be a case of avoiding the barbershop or risk ending up in a particularly meaty pie.

The Dark Knight

It isn't due until summer 2008 but I'm too excited to avoid talking about it. Christopher Nolan's reinvention of the dwindling Batman franchise began in 2006 with, funnily enough, Batman Begins. So, now it has started it must continue, and The Dark Knight will return to do battle with the Joker next year. A teaser trailer is already available featuring some cockney mutterings from Michael Caine.

Heath Ledger (above) has been given the difficult task of making the role of the Joker his own, bringing the flamboyant figure to the screen for a new generation of audiences. Ledger's predecessor, Jack Nicholson, left an enduring mark on the character's image, etching his mischievous grin into the memory of those who watched the Tim Burton films of the 90's. Changes have been made to the batmobile for the sequel, along with replacements made to the cast following Katie Holmes' withdrawal from the project, prompting Nolan to recruit Maggie Gyllenhaal.