Rise Of The Guardians

Year: 2012
Director: Peter Ramsey
Voice cast: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Dakota Goyo


Plot: Jack Frost has been chosen to join Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Sandman as a member of the Guardians, spirits who safeguard children all over the world. Together they must stop Pitch a.k.a. the Boogeyman, who wants to spread fear among the children.


Review: This film is based on William Joyce's book series The Guardians Of Childhood, about how the childhood myths come to life to protect children all over the world. In this film, we are introduced to Jack Frost, a young boy who doesn't remember anything about himself before he became a spirit capable of freezing everything around him. His mischievous exploits causes kids everywhere to have fun in the snow, but they never see him.

Then the Guardians are tasked to recruit him in order to fight Pitch, who, like Jack, has remained unseen by kids and now wants to be feared and acknowledged. But Jack isn't so easy to convince to join their cause, since he sort of enjoys being a carefree spirit who enjoys pulling pranks wherever he goes. But as we all know, that will change soon enough.

The animation level on this film is pretty good. Some of the characters may seem stiff at times, but the filmmakers more than make up for that by injecting tons of colours into nearly every scene and making all the magical sequences come alive. Sandman's powers are probably the best ones rendered on screen, with the golden sands flying everywhere like it had a life of its own.

But Rise Of The Guardians also benefits from a solid story, which is told very well. Sure, the story of an unlikely hero finding his purpose isn't exactly new, but director Peter Ramsey makes the audience care about his characters while making them likable at the same time. Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny are the best depicted ones, with their friendly rivalry inducing a lot of laughs here.

If there's a flaw in this film, it probably would be the fact that it caters more to the younger crowd. There were a lot of "Whoa, look what I just did" moments all over the film, as Jack, the Guardians and the kids fly, slide, jump and fall over and over again, which would be awesome for a kid to watch, but may be taxing for an adult. So if you're the kind who has trouble connecting to your inner child, you may not like this.

But for what it's worth, Rise Of The Guardians is a pretty solid animated film which all kids will love. If you like having fun, you might like it too. (3.5/5)