I enjoyed it enormously. I think that having read the book, I probably enjoyed it more than if I'd come to it cold; the film lacks the depth of the original and I was, I suspect, supplying it. The daemons and the armoured bears were terrific - the bears were individually characterised, so apart from Ian McKellen's glorious voice for Iorek, there was the expression on the face of a particularly tall bear to enjoy as he watched the big fight for leadership of their clan. The big set scenes were impressive, and I enjoyed the realisation of a society in parallel with our own: the horseless carriages propelled by some mysterious (anti-gravity?) power source were a notable example.
Much has been written about the attack on the Church represented by the books and therefore the film. I know what the author has said about his original intent, and that's fair enough - but I have this to say about the film. I reckon that the only people who might feel that the authority represented in the movie was in fact the church would be people who themselves had experienced - and recognised - the church at its most repressive. People who suddenly realised that this was how their church had treated them. Because in the film, the only time I recognised any Christian reference was when the bear retrieved his armour from the Authority's storehouse - and the walls through which he burst had recognisable iconic figures painted on them. It was a fleeting glimpse of something familiar - and you had to be looking. Otherwise, the authority figures wore nothing resembling a cross or other Christian insignia, and dressed in what resembled Ruritarian uniforms of a past age rather than robes. Oh, and the Derek Jacobi figure mentioned heresy - but that's a much less specific term than it was.
I was so taken with all this that I retook my "Find your Daemon" test - and came up with this ocelot. He's got a rather Irish name, but I like him.
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