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Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Weitz's movie remains ultimately remote. It ends mid-adventure, so blatantly setting the stage for a sequel that the whole thing suddenly feels like a preamble. Read more
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Hampered by its fealty to the book and its madly rushed pace. Read more
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Tickle Me Elmo is more subversive. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: An innocuous, passably entertaining effects extravaganza. Read more
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Vagueness colors all, banishing emotional connections in the process. Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Why is it so joyless? Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This is the kind of movie that was made by throwing dollars at stuff, as opposed to using imagination, thought or even just common sense. Read more
Keith Phipps, AV Club: The Golden Compass does manage the job of bringing Philip Pullman's world to the screen. With luck, any future entries will try harder to get the job done right. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The Golden Compass: controversial statement on free will vs. religious oppression or disjointed, hard-to-follow fantasy-action flick for kids? Let's go with the latter. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: With all its hesitations and half-measures, The Golden Compass kindled something this critic hasn't felt in years: a burning thirst to see the sequel. Read more
Tasha Robinson, Chicago Tribune: For now, The Golden Compass can stand on its own, as a standard-issue but still glorious adventure. Read more
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Weitz's film is short, punchy and efficient, and it's full of engaging spectacle. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The Golden Compass is a blatant attempt to duplicate the success of the Harry Potter franchise. The only thing missing is richly imagined characters, a comprehensible story line, good acting, and satisfying special effects. Read more
Adam Graham, Detroit News: A mishmash of half-baked ideas, loud special-effects and disjointed imagery. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Golden Compass is a snowbound mystical-whizbang kiddie ride that hovers somewhere between the loopy and the lugubrious. Read more
Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: The carefully crafted look, in which fabulous fantasy mingles with hand-woven sweaters, offers a visual feast. The acting is impeccable from performers to voices. Read more
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Lyra surpasses the timid drone of Pan's Labyrinth or the Pevensies' do-gooder sap, she's brave, smart, and the best liar in the universe. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: [An] ultimately satisfying and successful version of the opening volume of the celebrated His Dark Materials trilogy. Read more
Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News: There is enough fire in Dakota Blue Richards' first film performance to make you eager for the next installment in the series. Read more
Jan Stuart, Newsday: The Golden Compass works up enough self-important gravitas to power the entire Lord of the Rings cycle. Weitz's deflatingly anticlimactic windup assures us there is more to come. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A pretty good fantasy -- with different bits of Potter and Jules Verne and Narnia all mixed up together into something new. Read more
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Represents the year's biggest gamble -- and it delivers the year's biggest and most ambitious fantasy. Read more
Kyle Smith, New York Post: The best you can say about The Golden Compass is that it's merely the second-dullest Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig film this year. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: "Free will" and "reason" go to war with "dogma" and "blind obedience" in The Golden Compass, the cryptic and striking new film based on the fantasy novels of Philip Pullman. Read more
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Visually, The Golden Compass is dazzling, hopscotching from hallowed halls of academe to the Nordic tundra, from luxe manors to creepy, sci-fi-like facilities. The effects couldn't be better. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Writer/director Chris Weitz brings a style that is more obligatory than deft. Constrained by a rushed feel and too little character development, this movie never seems to flow quite right. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A darker, deeper fantasy epic than the Rings trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia or the Potter films. It springs from the same world of quasi-philosophical magic, but creates more complex villains and poses more intriguing questions. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: An aura of disappointment takes hold midway into Golden Compass and becomes undeniable by the finish. Read more
Dana Stevens, Slate: The Golden Compass is a tepid, jumbled Hollywood fable whose final message seems to amount to little more than 'Follow your dreams,' or worse, 'Stay tuned for the sequel.' Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The action is crisply paced, the cast is committed to playing it straight, and if the script is pulling its punches, that doesn't weaken the story's headlong energy. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: This year's big holiday fantasy movie, The Golden Compass, is not as charming as the Harry Potter series or as spectacular as the Lord of the Rings movies, but it has something else to offer: ideas. Read more
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: With its rushed, jargon-pumped exposition, surplus of quarter-baked characters, stray narrative strands and generously dropped hints of things possibly to come, The Golden Compass is a movie that wears its franchise ambitions on its sleeve. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: Disappoints with its lack of character development and convoluted storytelling. Read more
Todd McCarthy, Variety: The prevailing tone is cold, which has nothing to do with the frigid settings of the second half, and the pic doesn't invite the viewer to enthusiastically enter into this new dramatic realm. Read more
Michelle Orange, Village Voice: In drawing and quartering much of the novel's intent, [Screenwriter/Director] Weitz ends up with a film that feels not just unfinished but undone. Read more
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: The movie simply delivers too many colorfuls for its own good, none of whom establish a true emotional identity, and thus it isn't moving, it's busy. Read more