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“It’s just a little cut,” said the studio execs as they prepared their screen adaptation of the award-winning novel THE GOLDEN COMPASS. However, with the removal of the core theological debate in Philip Pullman’s amazing book, the film is left without a soul. Those devout folks wanting to protest the release of this film should not fear that little children would be converted to atheism after watching this production, because the little tikes will not have time to think about anything as the film rushes from one action set piece to the next.

Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards, feature film debut) is a tomboy who lives at Jordon College under the care of the scholars. In her world, a person’s soul lives on the outside of their bodies in the form of an animal called a daemon. Lyra’s daemon is Pan (Freddie Highmore, FINDING NEVERLAND), who shape-shifts from an ermine to a cat to a bird and back again. Her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig, CASINO ROYALE) comes to the school to secure funding for his experiments with the North Lights, which serve as a portal into other dimensions. However, the all-powerful Magisterium, an organization set up to control the lives of all the citizens of this world, finds Lord Asriel’s work very threatening, because it will expose the organization’s lies and undermine their own measures to control the influence of mystical Dust on the people.

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Comparing director Paul Verhoeven’s Dutch films with his Hollywood films is like comparing the work of different directors. His 1973 film, TURKISH DELIGHT, is an underrated masterpiece. His English language films range from violent sci-fi like ROBOCOP and TOTAL RECALL and tawdry sexploitation flicks like BASIC INSTINCT and SHOWGIRLS. For BLACK BOOK, he goes back to Dutch, making a WWII set thriller that captures some of the dramatic power of his early work along with the sexual vibrancy he has become notorious for.

Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten) was a singer before the war broke out. Now she is shuffling from hiding spot to hiding spot across the Netherlands. After surviving several tragedies, Rachel changes her name to Ellis and hooks up with the Dutch resistance, which is organized by businessman Gerben Kuipers (Derek de Lint, DEEP IMPACT) and doctor Hans Akkermans (Thom Hoffman, DOGVILLE). Rachel becomes a dedicated member of the resistance with her willingness to do what must be done, even if that is sleeping with the head of the Gestapo, Ludwig Muntze (Sebastian Koch, THE LIVES OF OTHERS). She even endures working closely with the vile Nazi officer Gunther Franken (Waldemar Kobus), who murders and steals from rich Jews.

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When I heard from more than one person that this film was better than the original DIE HARD, I couldn’t believe it. When I heard a few critics say it was the best sequel, I thought that was a more reasonable assessment. Now after actually seeing the film, my only suggestion is that all those above people go back and see the original film, because they have forgotten what makes an action movie good.

This time around John McClane is an over-protective father spying on his college-aged daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, SKY HIGH). After a cyber attack on the federal government, local police departments are asked to bring in suspect hackers. McClane is asked to pick up Matthew Farrell (Justin Long, DODGEBALL) and bring him to Washington D.C. But as things are for John McClane, an easy task is never easy. He must first save Farrell from assassins and a bomb in the young man’s apartment. But the killers won’t stop. Led by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant, HITMAN), the bad guys have used hackers to shut down the U.S. infrastructure and financial records. Farrell knows too much and they want him dead. McClane makes the fight personal, so Gabriel follows suit by kidnapping Lucy.

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