New Line Cinema's latest film takes audiences on a fantasy adventure with the help of a "Golden Compass.

Actress Dakota Blue Richards beat-out 10-thousand girls to get the role of the main character, Lyra.

The story follows Lyra on a journey as she and friends she gains along the way, including a polar bear and a good witch, fight to save some children who have been taken away from their parents by an evil group, led by the chief villian, Mrs. Coulter, played by Nicole Kidman.

Lyra uses the compass to help in the effort. The compass has the special power of being able to answer a person's quesions and show the truth.

In this fantasy world everyone has an animal partner, called a "demon", who talks to them and acts out their feelings. It's a little weird in the beginning as you're watching it but you get used to it.

"The Golden Compass" is based on a series of best-selling books but I don't think this will be a best-selling movie. The plot is pretty simple: Good vs. Evil. And I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters. 

The film is nearly 2-hours long and there's a lot of talking and not much action to keep you interested.

The digital animation is very good and if you're a fan of "Narnia" or the "Harry Potter" movies you'll probably like "The Golden Compass" more than I did, but not as much as those films.

"The Golden Compass" is rated PG-13 for some fantasy violence, but there's not that much and it's not very graphic so the movie is OK for kids 8 and over as long as parents are on board, though most will probably get bored very quickly.

On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, "The Golden Compass" gets a C. 

Finally, as for the controversy involving religion, it had no effect on me as I watched the film and I'm sure it won't effect you either.