Film review: Rise of the Guardians

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, been busy with work, and I was out on holiday for a while.

Wow, my last update was almost a month ago.

Anyways, I managed to watch this last night, and I have to say…

Not bad at all.

AVENGE...I mean...GUARDIANS!! ASSEMBLE!!

Rise of the Guardians sees Santa Claus, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny coming together again as the titular Guardians when their old foe, Pitch Black aka the Boogeyman, comes back to threaten the children of the world.

Nighty night....

But this time, the Man on the Moon seems to think that they need help, and appoints a new member: Jack Frost.

It’s like the Avengers but with popular folk mascots.

The cast and characters is quite the ensemble too.

Look at that face...
Just a matter of time before all the fangirls start creating yaoi doujin of him with the other characters.

The main character, Jack Frost is voiced by Chris Pine, and he’s sort of like the surrogate character for the audience, where everything is explained to him. His character has potential, but not fully realised here. Jack Frost wishes to know the purpose of his existence, but has yet to find it after 300 years. 

Hell, he wasn’t too keen on being appointed a Guardian at first, but he soon comes around to it.

Look at those awesome tattoos.

Nicholas St. North aka Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) is played up to be a tattooed Russian giant with an army of Yetis and silly elves and a sweet sleigh ride.

And it is glorious.

You can practically feel Alec Baldwin having the time of his life voice acting the character.

FAIRY POWAHHHHH

Toothiana aka The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fischer) is a weird half-human, half-hummingbird hybrid who collects teeth from children and leaves behind a quarter. She also commands an army of smaller fairies.

Seriously though, she and her army are just adorable. And will punch out your tooth if you threaten the children of the world.

I was half expecting him to go "Bub" or just "Snikt!"

E. Aster Bunnymund (Hugh Jackman) is a badass Australian bunny. He kicks ass with boomerangs and martial arts while painting eggs. And, somehow, he’s still on the receiving end of many jokes. Don't call him cute.

Whiplash would be proud.

Last, but not least, the Sandman, who does not speak. Rather, he portrays his thoughts with sand sculptures above his head.

Got to give this guy credit, the Sandman kicks ass with his dual sand whips.

One thing that definitely caught my eye about this movie, is how breathtakingly beautiful the graphics are. Especially with Jack Frost’s ice and frost animations, it’s simply beautiful. Even the model has a certain appeal to it, despite the simplicity of it.

If anything, I kinda regret not watching this in 3D.

Hell, I would watch it again just for the Christmas elves.

Now, truth be told, the story…isn’t much. It’s a rather generic story that plays out just a little over one and a half hour: the good guys find a new powerful threat, recruit a new player into their team, find themselves losing, the new guy discovers a new power within himself, the good guys unite and fight back and win the day.

The Yetis are pretty awesome as well.

And yet…

Everyone loves this movie, including me of course. Though the critics obviously are not as impressed.

Why is that?

Maybe it’s just the marketing and good timing, a feel good movie coming out near the X-mas period? Yea, no one has done that before.

But, I think it may be something more.

Let’s face it, we are living through trying times, it’s hard to be hopeful and be optimistic at times like this.

And then, you watch this movie, and it sends out a message of hope, dreams, wonder, fun and memories. 

Perhaps, that is why it struck a deep chord with a lot of people.

Just like children, or perhaps even more so than children, adults, weary of life and its many complications, can feel that there is always hope, for a better tomorrow.

Congratulations, Dreamworks Animations, if people were not convinced that you guys could make great movies after Kung Fu Panda 2 and How to Train a Dragon, perhaps this would.

Watch out, Pixar.