As someone who read and loved the books: could have been better.
I hate the end. I understand that they thought there was going to be a sequel, but that's really an abrupt ending.
I felt like the whole movie was too fast paced, and that the story suffered from that.
The special effects and the daemons were well made (they got an Oscar for that!). I also liked how the characters are portrayed (Nicole Kidman - Mrs. Coulter is perfect).
It's not bad, but I'm still disappointed. My expectations were probably too high because I love the book though.