We’re introduced to the world with a voice over that’s too brief to be helpful and thus is unnecessary altogether; something about alternate universes and how Dust – different than the normal kind – weaves them all together. The alternate universe the story is set in looks a lot like ours, and even has a place called Oxford, but is cheerfully anachronistic – the city looks vaguely futuristic, but people dress like they’re in the early 1900s – and magical. Witches roam the skies in some areas, and if you go far enough north you can meet the talking polar bears.

The screenplay is a bit clunky, hitting each major plot point dutifully and briskly without much time to appreciate each setting. Our hero, Lyra – who is often forced to talk in paragraphs but is otherwise well played by Dakota Blue Richards - travels everywhere from a sinister mansion to dangerous city streets to a pirate ship to the land of the polar bears, but there’s really not a whole lot of time to simply enjoy the ride or develop a sense of wonder, because before you know it, you’re onto the next thing. I understand the need for a steady pace, but there’s equally something to be said for stopping and smelling the roses every once in a while.

Yet don’t get me wrong – there’s fun to be had, too. The plot itself follows Lyra and her daemon – basically an extension of one’s soul masquerading as a talking animal that constantly accompanies you – as they go live with the mysterious Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) after Lyra’s uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) journeys up north as part of his studies of Dust and alternate universes.

Lord Asriel’s research is condemned by the Magisterium, a.k.a a more powerful and corrupt version of the Catholic Church, and when Lyra realizes that Mrs. Coulter is actually in league with the Magisterium and Lord Asriel is in danger, she runs away up north to find him – in the process gaining more than a few allies and uncovering a conspiracy involving kidnapped children.

Despite the film feeling like a Cliff’s Notes version of a larger story, it’s clearly a solid plot and there are plenty of colorful characters; a lot of the fun derives from the world feeling like a lot of different fantasy styles thrown together. There are traditional witches, like the perfectly-cast Eva Green. Then there’s Sam Elliott’s aeronaut, who has a thick Texan accent and gives Lyra a ride in his hot-air balloon that has a gondola shaped like a souped-up boat. Then there’s the arctic facility the kidnapped children are kept in, which looks like something out of Lost.

Craig ...