When they write the history of filmmaking in the 21st century, the first decade will probably be known as a time of giddy freedom and experimentation with fantasy.

Thanks to the explosion of digital effects technology, it seems like new fantasy films pop up as regularly as weeds--the Harry Potter dynasty, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the first film adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia that don’t rely on rubber monsters and midgets in mouse suits. The fantasy boom of the early aughts features stunning cinematography, epic storytelling and heretofore unheard-of levels of employment for British actors, because for some reason nobody thinks a fantasy hero or heroine, villainess or villain, should sound like an American.

And then there’s The Golden Compass.

The first of what may be several adaptations of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, The Golden Compass is bald-facedly bucking for a franchise. It’s one of the prettiest fantasy films to date, from its soaring Jules Verne skylines to its golden clockwork insects. It features an all-star cast, from the heavily featured Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig to the all-but-unnoticed Ian McKellen and the criminally underused Derek Jacobi. And while it excises some of the most controversial elements of the novel that inspired it, it doesn’t even bother trying to tie up its plot at the end--the heroes ride off in mid-journey, needing only “To Be Continued” plastered across the screen in burnished gold letters to make the whole thing complete.

But The Golden Compass is exactly as weak as it is strong.

First, the strengths. The film is a beautiful work--graceful, confident and visually stunning (Compass won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects). While the acting occasionally leaves something to be desired, the whole cast seems to be giving its all to a good-naturedly weird screenplay, like doting aunts and uncles collaborating to tell a fantastic story to a very young child. The film retains all the sweep and grandeur of the novel, and has a capable heroine in newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, who manages to be precocious, curious and determined without being annoying.

As Lyra Belacqua, the orphaned niece of an Arctic explorer (Craig), Richards spends her time getting in and out of scrapes with her personal daemon, Pantalaimon (ably voiced by Freddie Highmore). Calm down, Bible Belters--daemons are animal companions that embody humans’ souls and a fine literary device, not an enticement for your children to slaughter goats in the basement. The CGI daemons--children’s can shapeshift, adults are static--provide a fascinating counterpoint to the actors’ performances and an unexpectedly significant contribution to the plot. Lyra’s pitch-perfect fantasy journey begins when she falls under the influence of the chilling Mrs. Coulter (Kidman) and eventually ends up traveling to the frozen North with a band of nomadic Gyptians, a disgraced armored bear named Iorek (voiced by McKellen), a cowboy (Sam Elliott) and occasionally a witch (Eva Green).

But it’s in the journey that the film’s weaknesses arise. While Pullman and his controversial opus, which has been roundly condemned by conservative and religious parents’ groups for allegedly encouraging readers to “kill God,” ensured the movie would get as much free publicity as it could stand, the production itself has gutted most of the controversy that animated the book. The great “dangerous idea” of Philip Pullman has been taken out of Lyra Belacqua’s hands and placed in the realm of something adults discuss and Lyra overhears, barely understanding. It’s something explained rather than expressed, and this is a central weakness of the film.

The dangerous idea, after all, is the very concept of questioning authority--even (perhaps especially) religious authority--and it’s almost criminal to make a movie about questioning authority that is both so utterly faithful to its subject matter and yet places all discussion of the question in the mouths of adults. And it’s subtle enough that only adults watching the film are likely to notice it. That’s where the weakness comes in. In case you haven’t been a kid in a while, adults are the authorities. There’s something screwy here, and it’s not just how a thin coat keeps a little girl warm in the Arctic cold.

The Golden Compass two-disc Platinum Series edition DVD (New Line Home Entertainment, MSRP: $34.99) includes an informative audio commentary by writer/director Chris Weitz and 11 making-of featurettes covering areas like casting (“Finding Lyra Belacqua”), production design, music and costumes, as well as the origins of the story (“The Novel,” “The Adaptation”). The two-disc version is not available for rental, though, and the single-disc version (MSRP: $28.98) is notably bereft of any remotely special features--English and Spanish subtitles and three theatrical trailers for forgettable upcoming movies (someone cast Brendan Fraser in Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D?).

As far as kid-friendliness is concerned, The Golden Compass will probably pass muster with not-very-observant parents and highly observant kids. There’s enough violence to earn the PG-13 rating, but The Golden Compass is an otherwise acceptable family fantasy-adventure--more’s the pity.

The Golden Compass is now available on DVD.