Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians falls into the category of DreamWorks films that from every standpoint should be one that a lot of people remember, but you’d find that isn’t actually the case. Despite the critical reception for the film being generally positive, the film failed to make a profit against its $145 million budget due to marketing distributing costs (the film still made $307 million worldwide), and it’s resulted in very few bringing this film up when they acknowledge great DreamWorks films. So, did this film deserve to be forgotten? In a world where all the famous holiday mascots act as protectors or ‘’guardians’’ to those who believe in them, their balance is thrown into chaos by Pitch Black (voiced by Jude Law), the bogeyman who wishes to extinguish every child’s belief in the guardians and rule over a world of darkness. This team of guardians consist of Nicholas St. North (voiced by Alec Baldwin), Toothiana, (voiced by Isla Fisher), E. Aster Bunnymund, (voiced by Hugh Jackman) and Sandy the Sandman, and all of them are told by the Moon (yes, the moon is a character in this movie even though it doesn’t speak or interact with anything), to bring Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine) into the fold as a new Guardian. Being a person with no memory of his past and who has the power to control ice but can’t be seen or heard by anyone, Jack’s life is spent playing practical jokes on people and has zero interest in working with the Guardians.  However, Pitch’s threats escalate, and children start to not believe in the guardians anymore, destroying good faith around the world and the guardian’s powers. Working together to fix Pitch’s problems, Jack tries to see if he has what it takes to be a Guardian, all the while Pitch holds the key to his past in his hands and tries to convince Jack to follow in his steps. This film provides a wonderfully entertaining experience with likeable characters, engaging action and effects, and some wildly creative material, but stumbles due to some sloppy handling of its storytelling.

The original story for this came about from the mind of American illustrator and writer, William Joyce, from his book series, Guardians of Childhood, which detailed the stories of each of the titular characters presented in this film. It had originally only been a animated short film named The Man in the Moon directed by Joyce and helped out by visual effects studio, Reel FX, but this later served as inspiration for the film when they sold the distribution rights to DreamWorks. Originally, Joyce was co-directing the film along with Peter Ramsey (a known storyboard artist who was given his first directorial debut in this film) but would later drop down to executive producer after the tragic passing of his daughter, Mary Katherine, due to complications with brain cancer (with the film being dedicated to her), leaving Ramsey as the sole director for the film. For a first time director, he does a pretty impressive job really capturing the fun, inventive, and even enjoyably crazy aspects that come with this idea and how they can work creatively and even in some respects emotionally. The film definitely has more of a passion for the high-octane action-y moments as it’s a film that has a very brisk, rapid pace to it. This results in the movie being energetic, fun, and infectiously endearing when the characters match that attitude, but it leaves the film also feeling pretty shallow and too quick in parts. Moments that need longer to sit with are brushed past very quickly, leaving little to no room for people to properly process what they’re supposed to be feeling, and it makes some of the emotional moments feel pretty lacking. This isn’t to say that the film has no slower moments as there are instances where the appropriate amount of time is given for a scene that needs to be softer and it works well because of it (the first time Jack is ‘’seen’’ is handled very well), it’s just that the film doesn’t utilize these moments enough and it makes everything feel like its on fast-forward at times.

What really helps run this movie are its characters and how well they work off each other and how well they work in this premise. Having an Avengers-like team-up with Holiday mascots at the centre is already a really fun idea that dabbles in just the right amount of cool and goofiness to make it work great for a kid’s property, but the unique ways they stand out not just from each other, but from their original portrayals while still staying true to the spirit of their holidays is fantastic. The main guardians are very well realized with great designs, personalities, and even great voice talent, even with some that seem completely out of left field. Alec Baldwin as a Russian Santa Clause sounds dead on arrival, but the character is so entertaining to watch just through how child-like yet also action-prone he can be, its like a perfect balance between the light-hearted innocence and almost deranged-level of passion for fun that a child carries, he’s a great character. The Tooth Fairy as this fairy/humming bird hybrid makes for a great design and she’s great at being very charming and likeable through Isla Fisher’s voice acting, while also being a little creepy as well, and the Easter Bunny as this Crocodile-Dundee like figure is already smart, but works even better thanks to Hugh Jackman’s voice fitting spot on for this type of role. Sandman is a relatively straightforward character due to his minimal dialogue and screen time, but his design and manner of using his powers make him memorable, as do the way all of them handle their tasks and the way their worlds look, which are simultaneously exactly like you’d imagine them, while still adding in nice new flourishes. The two sour spots in this category are sadly the most crucial parts to nail and that’s the main lead and the villain, and while both aren’t really bad, they do have some problems. Jack Frost as a lead has a lot going for him; his attitude and ”Peter Pan” like mentality works well with the role, his powers are visually pleasing, his backstory (while short) is good, and he’s even given a great purpose for the film that makes people feel for him, but his albino ‘’Justin-Bieber’’ design already felt dated when it came out and Chris Pine, will doing a fine job, feels too old for the role. Jude Law as the villain also doesn’t fit too well, and the character’s limited backstory, mediocre design, bland motivation and wasted potential leaves him feeling pretty useless in this story.

The film’s visuals match the fast pacing of the story and hyperactive nature of the characters, but it actually works to the film’s advantage as it leads to a lot of great moments of motion as well as some great action sequences. They are brief and sparingly used, but when action does happen, its usually very well handled, keeps the adrenaline up and leads to a lot of great shots. The cinematographer for How to Train Your Dragon, Roger Deakins, helped work on this film as well, and you can feel it with how a lot of the sky shots are composed and how the movie very effectively uses the space to really capture what it feels like to be up in the air. It’s a movie that was no doubt great-looking in 3D, and there are several shots that feel like they are composed like they would if it were in live-action. For how the film looks, the environments are really cool and well-designed, the colors are very eye-catching, and while some of the human characters look a little weird, most of the main cast look really nice. The script for this was handled by David Lindsay-Abaire, and the layout of this film is very different to how the books are presented, so the connection between sources was only in premise and set-up (the books only focus on establishing their origins, not what this film tells), so most of this had to be written from scratch and it feels like a pretty solid job. It’s a very creative film that takes advantage of a lot of great ideas and shows them off in a very entertaining manner, and even though there definitely are chinks in how the story plays out and some of the choices that come with it (the moon as a character just feels like a random inclusion that doesn’t really add much), its not too much of an issue overall.

Rise of the Guardians feels like an underrated gem in the regard that despite its very clear pros, it didn’t leave an attachment with people and because of that, fell under the radar. This doesn’t feel like it was from dislike for the film as even when it came out, the general consensus was usually positive, but maybe it just didn’t click with most people. It feels like this film perfectly captures the essence of one of those fantasy kids adventure books (ironically what this idea is based off of). It runs on emotional connections, crazy antics with overly dramatic characters that are quick to grasp and trades out complexity for simple relatability, imagination and charm. This film seems to be just like that with a memorable cast, engaging visuals and premise, and plenty of creative elements to get sucked into with just enough understanding of its world to be engaging. Its definitely flawed as its lead and villain have some issues and there’s definitely a pacing problem, but for what it is, it’s a pretty good time. Decide for yourself whether this random team-up movie is the one for you and unlike the movie, if the moon asks you something, maybe be a little afraid and confused instead.