Overall, the film is a spectacular array of visual effects that tells a story that is significantly less entertaining than its literary counterpart.

Continuing the motion picture trend of fantasy epics based on literary tales is “The Golden Compass,” the first of three books from the “His Dark Materials” series by Philip Pullman. Though notably more famous in Britain than in America, the film has received a mixed reception among critics on this side of the pond.

Many of the negative criticisms, however, are based in part on the book’s alleged meaning. Several religious affiliations, including the Catholic League led by Bill Donohue, say the book series is vehemently anti-religious.

The film begins in Oxford, England, in an alternate world where every person has a “daemon,” an animal assigned to a person that is analogous to a soul in our world. If either the daemon or the human gets hurt, for example, the other will feel it.

Lyra Belacqua, our young heroine, is a mischievous child who accepts a dare to take the headmaster of Jordan College’s robe. In the closet where the robe is, Lyra is almost caught, but instead stays hidden while a group of scholars that include her uncle Lord Asriel discuss his latest expedition to the North.

Later, Lyra is sent to have dinner with the elegant Mrs. Coulter, who entices Lyra to come with her through her promises of going to the North. Wanting to see the Aurora that contains the hidden world, Lyra agrees to go with her, but not before the headmaster of Jordan gives her an alethiometer, a sort of compass that has the power to tell the truth. This instrument helps guide Lyra throughout the film.

Throughout the next couple of weeks, Lyra becomes Mrs. Coulter’s assistant, though her daemon Pan believes she is Mrs. Coulter’s new “pet.” She soon finds out that her uncle has been captured in his latest expedition, which makes her yearn to travel north all the more to rescue him.

Through a series of deceptions and twists, a confrontation ensues between Lyra’s daemon Pan and Mrs. Coulter’s monkey-daemon, which leads to Lyra no longer trusting Mrs. Coulter.

After running away, Lyra ends up getting caught up with a group of gypsies who have lost their children and an armored polar bear named Iorek Byrnison. That’s right, an armored polar bear.

The film contains numerous twists, characters switching allegiances, and some breathtaking set pieces. One of these scenes occur when Iorek and Lyra traverse across the treacherous snow-covered landscape, and get separated when Lyra crosses an ice-bridge that’s too risky for Iorek to cross.

Fans of the book series, “His Dark Materials,” will find that many aspects within the film have been changed, though the story remains intact. The first book, for example, has a totally different ending, which we can presume will be added onto the sequel to “The Golden Compass.”

Additionally, the order of events within the film doesn’t reflect the order of the book, and many character-developing moments of the book are ignored in the film. Thus, a person in the theater may not feel the same connections to key characters within the film that they may have felt by reading the book.

Overall, the film is a spectacular array of visual effects that tells a story that is significantly less entertaining than its literary counterpart. Those who have not read the book will probably find that “The Golden Compass” is an entertaining tale. Those who have read the book will probably leave with a sense of disappointment, but will have been entertained nonetheless.

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