The Golden Compass (2007)

Most people think so. 72% of audiences gave it a thumbs up, by Google's archived audience score. Critics scored it lower at 46%, but audiences disagreed.

In a parallel universe, after overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherworldly adventure in the far North, unaware that it's part of her destiny. Wikipedia ↗

The Golden Compass is a 2007 American fantasy adventure directed by Chris Weitz, based on Philip Pullman's acclaimed novel Northern Lights. Dakota Blue Richards stars as Lyra Belacqua, a headstrong orphan at Oxford's Jordan College in a parallel world where every human's soul takes the form of an animal companion called a daemon. When children begin disappearing and Lyra discovers a conspiracy involving the powerful Magisterium's experiments to sever children from their daemons, she embarks on a journey to the Arctic accompanied by an armored polar bear warrior, a witch queen, and a Texan aeronaut played by Sam Elliott.

The film was surrounded by controversy — the Catholic League organized a boycott over Pullman's anti-organized-religion themes, and New Line Cinema removed much of the novel's religious criticism from the screenplay. The visual effects, particularly the armored bears and the daemon animations, were impressive. The Golden Compass earned $372 million worldwide on a $180 million budget but the franchise was shelved until HBO's television adaptation His Dark Materials.