The Golden Compass Loses Its Way

In "The Golden Compass" the filmmakers set a course for adventure but wind up wandering in the wilderness of exposition, stiff performances, and overblown cgi set pieces that are notable for their "jumanji-ish" crappiness.
This would be fantasy epic tells the story of a precocious little girl at an exclusive boarding school who is secretly given a golden compass that can reportedly reveal the truth that those in power so desperately want to cover up.
If a movie like this is to enchant audiences it has to make you feel for the characters, but the story falls flat, the little girl is more annoying than adorable, Nicole Kidman's face seems frozen in a sneer for the entire film, and Daniel Craig is given very little to do. The only one who adds some much needed spark and pizazz is Sam Eliot. He shows up as a cowboy airship pilot. It doesn't make any sense, but I kind of liked it.
Also there are armored polar bears. Now the idea of armored polar bears is admittedly intriguing, but these bears look too much like they should break out a coca-cola instead of doing battle. And when ever they interact with humans, you can almost see the green screen effects and mechanical doohickey's involved in making the scene.
I haven't read the books this film is based on, so it's quite possible that the same story in different hands could have hit the mark. The Lord of the Rings suffered a similar fate with a poorly reviewed animated version in the 70's which left fans unsatisfied until Peter Jackson got a hold of it. Needless to say, fans of these books will be waiting for quite a while to see any more stories up on the screen.

The Golden Compass: C-