However, he thought, "the problem with the film is the haystack of derivative film twists and the fatal lack of genuine drama. The magic compass, secretly entrusted to Lyra, is not much help. This oversized pocketwatch works like an Ouija board. It can reveal all sorts of hidden truths, but it 's hopeless when it comes to directions. You need proper charts, a year’s supply of baked beans, and Sir Ernest Shackleton if you’ve got any hope of finding the plot. Unless you have read the books, you will have little idea of what’s going on. Unfortunately, the most disappointed viewers will be impressionable youngsters who cherish the books."

Baz Bamigboye of The Daily Mail disagreed. "There's the odd confusing point, but overall, the film works splendidly. It's big-screen entertainment at its best." He was particularly impressed with Kidman. "Within seconds of being seduced, though, you're terrified. This broad is a real villain. She's sinister, manipulative and complex, radiating a sense of menace. Her performance in the picture is her most powerful since winning the best actress Oscar for 'The Hours'."

And Liz Hoggard of the Evening Standard thought it, "a beautifully made, spectacularly designed family movie that dares to ask serious questions about good and evil, free will and adolescent sexuality. Granted many of these topics will float over the heads of its younger audience - but there's a spoonful of medicine mixed in with the sugar." And she raves, "Nicole Kidman fans can sleep easy. After a series of arthouse flops, she is back on magnificent form as Mrs Coulter. Dressed in vampish outfits, she hisses and caresses her way across the screen."

Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian expressed some reservations. "As with many adaptations of this sort, a lot of the novel's supporting background material which might acclimatise us to the story's strange and distinctive world has been stripped out. You're just plunged straight into the action and have to get used to this bewildering, exotic new universe as best you can. The effect is interesting and alienating, though the tiniest bit more absurd than I think Philip Pullman would have intended. It's not hard to see which buttons this movie is hitting: Narnia, Hobbits, Hogwarts, Star Wars. The crowded imaginary universe of 'The Golden Compass' takes some getting used to, and in some ways, as a non-follower of the Pullman books, I have still to be entirely sold on it." He too was wowed by Kidman. "This is the very best sort of part for her: statuesque, elegant, seductive, with a hint of cold steel. In many ways, it's her juiciest character since the sociopathic meteorologist in 'To Die For'."

Tim Robey of the Telegraph says, "You can't fault the film for its pacing, which is fleet and often breathless - the way Weitz gets the characters tumbling into battle at the end is a nice, brisk rejoinder to all Peter Jackson's portentous martial foreplay, not to mention the galumphing finale of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.' The last three chapters of the book have been shot, but you won't get to see them yet because Weitz is deferring them to form a putative prologue for the sequel." However, he concludes, "Whether 'The Subtle Knife' gets made is conditional on this film's success, and I think it'll be touch-and-go - there's a little too much compromise here, and only an embryonic feeling of soul. But embryos grow and so will this franchise, if the box-office heavens are willing. It has two more chances to astound."