Rod Martin Jr This is one of those rare films that has everything a good film demands -- conflict, juicy characters, understandable story that connects to the audience viscerally, and stunning visuals. The music, acting, sets, props and dialog are all a work of art.This is the kind of film I would like to make. It creates a myth and universe that remains internally consistent. One other reviewer commented that someone would have to have read the books to understand the beginning of the movie. I disagree. I didn't read any of the books and loved this movie right from the first scene. The key is trusting the audience to suspend their disbelief as well as the need to know all of the backstory in order to enjoy the immersion process.This film works on so many levels -- creating a multi-layered conflict, including likable characters who have hidden agendas.If they don't make the sequels, I'll be upset, big time. Stopping the sequels because the first didn't make money in the USA (while making a killing overseas) is not a reason, but an excuse.

Mihai Toma In a world where parallel universes coexisted, bounded by dust, a young girl and her daemon travel north to discover the faith of children kidnapped by a secret and mysterious organization. Along the way, she makes new friends but also enemies which try, at all cost, to get her Golden Compass, a device which tells the truth to anyone who can read it.We're presented a fantastic world, full of interesting creatures and characters, who play their decisive part in the outcome of the final battle which is to come. Although it leaves room for a sequel, its finale is a bit lame and unconvincing. The story itself is nothing groundbreaking but good overall, unfortunately failing to keep my attention throughout its entire length. I was also disappointed by the fact that Daniel Craig, although present on the poster, appears for brief and rare moments, having no implication in the outcome of the movie while Nicole Kidman's character isn't as determined to complete its job as I hoped.It turned out to be an average movie although its cast and plot suggested it can be much more than that.

divyanka This movie is serious and sad, but also mysterious and adventurous. The story is interesting and keeps the audience waiting to see what happens next. The idea of the 'demon', who is actually part of the human, is very interesting. However, it is not made clear why they are called 'demons', as they do not have any negative qualities. The story seems to represent a futuristic world, like in the 'Hunger Games', in which there is a cruel 'authority' that wants to control everyone. It is very disappointing to have a cliffhanger at the end that offers no solution to what happens next. If the movie was intended to be continued, it should have been a long time ago. Other than that, the colours were pretty dull because most of the scenes and events, but the acting was good and the little girl had a courageous and determined personality.*7/10*

barbagvido The books are amazing and the movie should've been too. But the studio butchered it completely. The actors were brilliant. Dakota Blue Richards gave one of the best child actor performances ever! Nicole Kidman didn't look like Mrs. Coulter, more like Serafina Pekkala, and Eva Green, who played Serafina Pekkala, looked more like Mrs. Coulter. But they were both still great, especially Kidman. The rest is fine but Dakota and Nicole stole the show. Visually, it's one of the best looking movies I've ever seen. So, what went wrong? I believe this movie was breathtaking before studio cut the quarter of it, so now it feels rushed and kinda weak. Just like they put this movie in the silver guillotine. It didn't feel complete at all and they also cut away the book's ending. So many parts were missing, half of the characters are just one-dimensional sidekicks and it didn't even have the same message the book had. It was just a solid adventure movie, and a fun one. I hope they release the director's cut one day. And there are also some news about BBC rebooting this into a TV show (yay!). But it's still not a bad movie, it has many events from the book, but it just doesn't feel like the same story anymore.