Director: Peter Ramsey
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Rating: B
"It is our job to protect the children of the world. For as long as they believe in us, we will guard them with our lives.."
As far as Christmas movies go, this one's a bit awkward. In a way, it kind of reminds me of The Nightmare Before Christmas simply because while appearing to be about Christmas, it's actually about something more than that and Christmas itself is rather secondary.
Rise of the Guardians follows the spirit of winter, Jack Frost (Pine), on a journey as he comes to realize his destiny. Opening 300 years ago, we see Jack emerge as Jack Frost, with no memories of who he was before, having been lifted from the ice by the Man in the Moon (who also tells Jack his name). While Jack has great power, however, he is invisible to everyone, since no one believes in him. Fast forward 300 years, where Jack is still unbelieved by all, the Guardians of Childhood, lead by North (Baldwin), are informed that the Bogeyman, Pitch Black (Law), has returned and it is up to them and newly appointed Guardian, Jack Frost, to stop him. Pitch has lived much like Jack, invisible and unbelieved, but has figured out how to attack the children of the world by transforming the dreams created by the Sandman (who does not speak) into nightmares. Pitch's ultimate goal, however, is to make the Guardians feel what he has felt, and cause all the children in the world to stop believing in them - and thus make them invisible and powerless.
To start, I really loved the portrayal of the different Guardians, although I was a bit confused by their loss of power. As we see that Jack Frost still has his powers without being believed in, I had to wonder why the other Guardians didn't also have their powers, or at least some of them. Although, I guess perhaps we're only seeing the limited manifestation of Jack's powers as it is before he becomes believed by many, and it is not until he is believed in that his true power really begins to manifest - perhaps North, Tooth, and Bunny are all weakened so much because they have forgotten what it's like to not be believed in, since they've all been around for so long. The worlds that each inhabit, with the exception of Jack Frost who is very much of this world, are absolutely amazing though, so I can't blame them for not knowing how to deal in the real world. I'm a bit torn on who I loved most here - North, who lives in his snow palace filled with dimwitted elfs and intelligent yetis; Tooth (Fisher), whose airy castle is filled with the baby teeth, and thus memories, of everyone; or Bunny (Jackman), who's bright and festive world is very much reminiscent of Easter Island. We don't get to see the Sandman's home, but we do get to see much of his sandy dream creations which is awesome, and we also saw Pitch's lair which is completely perfect for his character. I look forward to a future installment in this series (if it becomes one), where we get to see Jack Frost's home.
I also liked the story, particularly how it wasn't simply about saving Christmas. The competition between the different characters, even the ones who were technically working together, was great. The new take on old classic characters was also great - especially as it kind of took things on a completely different path than we're used to. I love the idea of Santa looking (and sounding) like a member of the Russian mafia. The whole idea of the Easter Bunny was great too. This movie was just all around good fun.
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