The Golden CompassMovie Reviews

Poster art for "The Golden Compass."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 51 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
12 Iffy for 12+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    A darker, deeper fantasy epic than the "Rings" trilogy, "The Chronicles of Narnia" or the "Potter" films. It springs from the same British world of quasi-philosophical magic, but creates more complex villains and poses more intriguing questions. As a visual experience, it is superb. As an escapist fantasy, it is challenging. Read full review

  • 70
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    A "soft" epic, a film touching on childhood fantasies with sturdy, unwavering characters driven to evil or good. More "Harry Potter," in other words, than "Beowulf." Read full review

  • 60
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Ultimately satisfying and successful version of the opening volume of the celebrated "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Disappoints with its lack of character development and convoluted storytelling. Read full review

  • 50
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Looks magical, seethes with elusive profundities and makes remarkably little sense, though the murkiness makes perfect sense on a shallower level. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Impressively rendered but oddly uninviting adventure. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Has many of the virtues of a faithful screen adaptation and many of the predictable flaws. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    The Golden Compass is a snowbound mystical-whizbang kiddie ride that hovers somewhere between the loopy and the lugubrious. Read full review

  • 40
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    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. Busy, busy, busy. Read full review

  • 38
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Me, I just think it blows. What does it matter if you spend millions on a movie - love the talking, battling bears! - if the effects are cheesy, the story runs off on tangents and after watching the movie fail utterly to be the next Lord of the Rings, you just want to go home. Read full review

View more reviews for The Golden Compass on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 12+ Ambitious fantasy is too intense for young kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this action-packed fantasy based on the first book in Philip Pullman's best-selling trilogy will feel threatening to young children. Animals and kids are in constant peril, and young kids will be upset by the threatened separation between the animals (daemons) and their humans. There are also many tense, violent scenes (chases; fierce, growling animals; shooting), as well as a fairly graphic battle between two enormous polar bears (one knocks the other's jaw off). And there's a major clash between children and adult troops that includes guns, arrows, swords, clubs, chains, hooks, and explosions. The main character is a 12-year-old girl who goes up against evil forces to save her friends. Although some religious groups have urged a boycott of the film based on its allegedly anti-Christian content, there is no specific language or imagery related to Christianity.
  • Families can talk about whether this is really a movie for kids. It's been promoted as a family film; do you think that's accurate? What elements of the film might make it too intense for younger audiences? What values does it emphasize? Families can also discuss the concept of the daemons. What does a daemon represent? Why is the idea of being severed from their daemon so upsetting to the movie's characters? Also, if you've read the book the movie is based on, how do you think the two compare? Which do you like better and why?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Deception abounds on all sides: Lyra is instructed to lie to Mrs. Coulter and spy on members of the Magesterium. But even as she uses ruses, the film celebrates her spirited nature and resistance to authority. Heroic figures are loyal and valiant; villains are dastardly, scheming, and dressed to alert you as to their evil intentions. Lyra's intentions are always good, even if the consequences of her actions aren't.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Weapons used in battle scenes include guns, arrows, swords, clubs, chains, hooks, and explosions. Lyra witnesses an attempt to poison her uncle; in a brief scene, children are frightened and grabbed by shadowy thugs. When Lyra escapes Mrs. Coulter, she's chased by several security men; confrontation between rebels and security guards (who have snarling Dobermans) is tense, but the guards back off. Warriors accompanied by snarling wolves shoot at and capture Lord Asriel, leaving him with bloodied face. Two mechanical bugs hunt and attack Lyra and Pan. In a fit of anger, Mrs. Coulter hits her monkey daemon, causing it pain. A violent severing of child and daemon in a laboratory causes visible pain and screams from both subjects. A very intense fight between two polar bears includes some graphic and disturbing violence (one bear whacks off the other's lower jaw, then drops him dead).
  • sex false0 Sex: Nothing explicit, but the fear of children growing up and becoming rebellious during the transition from preteen to teen insinuates a concern with puberty and sexual awareness.
  • language false0 Language: Minor language includes a few uses of "hell."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Polar bear Iorek Byrnison appears drunk and drinking.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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