The Golden Compass is lovely to look at, I mean I really liked the costumes and the scenery. The problem is that the plot of the film is a bit muddled. I haven't read the book by Phillip Pullman but I've heard from my brother it's very good. Back to the film, there were some scenes where the action felt rushed, and others got a bit confusing plot wise. I think that director Chris Weitz was trying to cram too much into a 108 minute film, and because of that, the script became increasingly uneven and contrived. Though on a positive note, I really liked the acting. Dakota Blue Richards gave a spirited performance as Lyra, and Nicole Kidman looks beautiful and manipulative as Mrs Coulter. And Ian McKellan did a superb job with the voicing of the polar bear, and the polar bear fight was definitely one of the better scenes of the movie. The only casting problem was that of Daniel Craig, he just seemed out of character. All in all, an enjoyable film, with a 7/10. Bethany Cox.

I wish I could have given The Golden Compass a better review. I loved the special effects and the players are some of the best around today. But I was left hanging more than once during the film.

I hate making the comparison, but The Golden Compass was a lot like the two Brady Bunch movies which were developed solely for their fans. If you had not watched the television series and knew some of the classic episodes you would have been completely lost watching either of those films.

The Golden Compass is certainly a better property than the Brady Bunch, but I fear unless you read the books which I didn't, you could not have known what was coming.

The film is located in an alternate reality where people's souls as it were are located out of their body in the form of animals. The fabric that holds this universe together is dust, something that is found throughout our universe.

With animals so closely bound to human kind the question of man being carnivorous is not an issue. I did kind of wonder what they did to feed themselves, maybe we'll get that answer in a sequel.

There's a ruling orthodoxy on this planet that brooks no dissent in matters of creation. There's punishment a plenty for even the mildly inquisitive. No one is going to miss the point made here about the dangers of a theocratic state.

A young girl, Dakota Blue Richards, appears to be a child foretold in heretic prophecy who's going to bring a new order of things. She has to be stopped, whatever the cost. Put in charge of the stopping is the very elegant Nicole Kidman.

In this world it isn't lions who are the King of Beasts as say in Narnia. Here it's the majestic polar bear of the north and serving as the voice of the noble and newly crowned King of the Bears is Sir Ian McKellan, best performance in the film, followed closely by Sam Elliott as the aviator for higher, an older wild west version of Han Solo.

I do hope future films do tie up some of the loose ends left in this one.

I've had the pleasure of reading Philip Pullman's NORTHERN LIGHTS, the novel from which this film is adapted, so I was interesting to find out how it holds up. My advice to those who've read the book beforehand is to forget all about it: THE GOLDEN COMPASS works as a colourful and superficial children's adventure film, packed with effects and magic, but as an adaptation of the novel it's a travesty.

All of the backdrop and Catholic Church-allegory stuff is dropped in favour of CGI effects. The story is hurried over, characters aren't given time to be properly introduced so are just dropped into the mix. As a result, it becomes difficult to take interest in what's playing out on screen, although it admittedly looks good.

As seems to be the norm these days, there's an ensemble cast of performers - a lot of them in roles so minor you wonder why they bothered turning up (Christopher Lee and Eva Green in particular) - so some fun to be had from watching them interact. The special effects are also decent for the most part. I imagine children will thoroughly enjoy it, but the truth is they haven't left much in for adults to get out of it...