In an alternate world, there is a church called the Magisterium, which requires people to believe in certain things. In addition, people’s souls live outside their bodies as talking animal companions, or daemons. They’re with each other at all times.

The scene then switches to a bunch of kids running around and having fun, including the main character, Lyra, who is a 12-year-old orphan. They come across this mysterious building but are afraid to go in it.

Yet Lyra and her daemon, which changes from a ferret to a cat, go inside. But once a group of businessmen come in, Lyra and her daemon hide inside a closet.

Shortly after, her uncle, Lord Asriel, comes in. Once Lyra is out of the closet, Lord Asriel gives her a hard time about being curious about this thing called the Dust. The Magisterium bans everybody from discussing it.

But Lord Asriel does reveal that the Dust at the North Pole links to different worlds. Then he stops there and forbids Lyra from trying to find out anything else about it.

Not long after, though, these kidnappers called “the Gobblers” abduct some of the children in the area, including two of Lyra’s friends. Those are Roger Parslow and Billy Costa.

At dinner, Lyra meets this woman, Mrs. Coulter, who is willing to take her to London. Lyra convinces her tutor to let her go, despite missing a lot of lessons. But he gives her the green light.

Lyra and Mrs. Coulter travel to her place via a big plane. So far, Lyra is having a good time.

However, later on, Mrs. Coulter shows her true colors. When Lyra shows her bag, Mrs. Coulter demands that she puts it away, which she constantly refuses. Then Mrs. Coulter and her daemon lose their temper, causing Lyra and her daemon to flee.

The two end up in a crowded area—which gets attacked by Gobblers. Then some people known as Gyptians rescue Lyra and her daemon. They take her into their ship. Their plan is to rescue the kids who were abducted.

While there, the elder Farder Coram recognizes the golden compass that Lyra has. It has a bunch of pictures, which can help answer questions.

At some point, Lyra is in a town, where she meets this talking ice bear (resembling a polar bear) who works and drinks. The bear’s name is Iorek Byrnison.

Lyra also meets this Texan aeronaut called Lee Scoresby. He’s the one who suggests hiring Iorek, who got defeated in a combat and exiled here.

Once in his armor, Iorek roars and becomes all aggressive. This prompts the people to try and defeat him.

But Iorek is actually on the good side. He is even willing to assist Lyra.

On their journey, Lyra encounters Bily Costa, who is in poor condition thanks to being neglected and trapped in this filthy cabin. His daemon was also taken from him.

At some point, Lyra and Iorek make it to where the kidnapped children are. But Lyra has to go over a thin trail of ice over a deep trench, which even collapses as she gets to the other side.

Yet once she’s there, things are getting worse. If that’s not bad enough, she and her daemon are locked up and almost die.

What’s going to happen next?

I will admit that this film did not entertain me as much as I hoped. Despite the fast pacing, the story was hard to follow. I felt like reading the book version would have been necessary to understand the plot and other elements.

I actually had the summary on Wikipedia guide me to writing parts of the narrative in this post. Of course, all words are my own.

Regardless of the flaws, though, this movie did have perks. For example, Lyra was very likable and well-developed. I especially admired her relationship with her daemon. She would even hug him when crying a few times.

Iorek was more of a gray character for me since he would scare innocent people but still help Lyra. And Farder Coram reminded me of Hagrid from the Harry Potter series with his physical appearance and voice.

That being said, not all the characters were easy to distinguish or understand. But the ones I mentioned were the most memorable. I also enjoyed disliking Mrs. Coulter once she turned out to be wicked.

The second half got better with the increased levels of tension. I would constantly worry about what was going to happen next.

And several twists and turns occur. Surprises always make stories more exciting.

Overall, I thought The Golden Compass was decent. The strengths were just a little higher than the weaknesses.

I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.