Fans of Roger, don't get your hopes up

Finally saw The Golden Compass yesterday. Pretty impressed and a little puzzled.

The sets and costumes have the feel of the book perfectly; the casting is pretty well spotless (Ian McKellen is obviously aiming for the coveted Tom Baker voiceover slot, and you have to not giggle when the evil Fra Pavel turns out to be Dibley's choirmaster); the plot is necessarily condensed (sometimes a little over-condensed) and thankfully minimises Philip Pullman's penchant for having his characters explain matters to each other, at length. Sometimes the dialogue really could have been more polished (that will be the over-condensation), though I think it was only three times that they shoehorned "alethiometer" and "golden compass" into the same sentence for the benefit of any thickies who found I Am Legend was sold out.

In short, I'm pleased I went. But it ends, allowing for chops and changes to the plots, on page 360 of my copy of Northern Lights. The book goes on to page 399 and a lot happens in those extra 39 pages.

I suspect it was to give the film an upbeat ending and to concentrate on Lyra's main drive: to rescue Roger, which she does. But still, it's like finishing Order of the Phoenix before the raid on the Ministry, or Fellowship of the Ring after Lothlorien. It raises hopes that can only be dashed. I'll be interested to see how they deal with the small matter of pages 391-399 in the next movie, assuming there is one.