rise of the guardian movie review

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Here's a quick quiz for you: What does Jack Frost look like? Young or old? I confess I've never had a mental image of Jack. In fact, until seeing "Rise of the Guardians," I never gave him any thought at all. The kids around me at a preview screening seemed more expert, perhaps because they know the inspiration for the film, William Joyce's book series, "Guardians of Childhood."

In those books, unread by me, Joyce imagines a loosely knit Avengers-style federation of the guardians of childhood. Most of them are famous: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and so on. Jack Frost's reputation suffers sadly in comparison. Voiced in the film by Chris Pine , he finds himself literally invisible. When he visits Earth, people are able to walk right through him. Since he is a spritely boy, he finds this depressing, although many kids have probably felt the same way.

Why is this so? The Man in the Moon never explained it to him. The Man in the Moon functions in the story as sort of a symbolic nature god, who never does anything but shine enigmatically in the sky.

This is a hyperkinetic 3-D action comedy, with the characters forever racing on Santa's sleigh, hurtling down chutes and zooming through tunnels that rework the same 3-D illusions over and over again. The characters aren't all referred to by what we might call their Earth names, and we get such as North, a broad-shouldered Santa (voice of Alec Baldwin ); Tooth, the fairy ( Isla Fisher ), and Bunny ( Hugh Jackman ).

There's also a villain, called Pitch by others and sometimes resentfully the Boogie Man by himself. This dastardly fiend (voice of Jude Law ) is envisioned as all darkness, teeth and claws, determined to put the Guardians out of business. In this moment of crisis, the team calls on Jack Frost to lead their resistance, and in the process, he inevitably redeems himself, becomes visible and achieves a personal victory. Now we know what he looks like. I was reminded of Peter Pan, although he isn't green.

There's an audience for this film. It's not me. I gather younger children will like the breakneck action, the magical ability to fly and the young hero who has tired of only being a name. Their parents and older siblings may find the 89-minute running time quite long enough.

Still, let it be said that director Peter Ramsey and his art team have created a crisp, colorful fantasy world, sharper-edged than many feature-length children's cartoons. Especially fetching: The Tooth's countless followers, called "Baby Teeth"; Bunny's ranks upon ranks of Easter eggs and Pitch's scary manifestations. I thought by the end of the picture, Pitch had earned some sort of redemption, but I guess he goes back to wherever Pitches come from.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Rated PG for thematic elements and mildly scary action

Chris Pine as Jack Frost

Jude Law as Pitch

Hugh Jackman as Bunny

Isla Fisher as Tooth

Alec Baldwin as North

Directed by

• Peter Ramsey
• David Lindsay-Abaire

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Rise of the guardians, common sense media reviewers.

Holiday icons defend childhood in gorgeous adventure.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

More for entertainment purposes than educational,

The movie stresses the importance of the wonder of

All of the Guardians are strong and brave and read

(Potential spoiler alerts!) Some intense action. P

The Tooth Fairy seems smitten with Jack Frost, and

Australian Easter Bunny says "bloody" this and "bl

No product placements in the movie, but there's a

Parents need to know that Rise of the Guardians is sort of like The Avengers with childhood icons: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman. There's lots of action and some mild violence revolving around the menacing bad guy Pitch Black, who turns children's dreams into…

Educational Value

More for entertainment purposes than educational, but there's an interesting folkloric origin story to how these childhood icons were endowed with the protection of children's hopes and dreams.

Positive Messages

The movie stresses the importance of the wonder of childhood, including belief in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, etc. Preserving the innocence and joy of childhood is the reason the Guardians exist. Although the movie isn't religious, the idea of faith in something you can't necessarily see is demonstrated as a positive force in children's lives.

Positive Role Models

All of the Guardians are strong and brave and ready to do what's necessary to protect children. The Tooth Fairy and her adorable little fairies keep baby teeth because they store children's precious memories. Santa loves providing toys because they spark imagination and wonder in kids. The Easter Bunny's eggs represent rebirth and new beginnings each spring. Jack's journey is to discover how he fits into the group and what makes him worthy of joining them.

Violence & Scariness

(Potential spoiler alerts!) Some intense action. Pitch Black and his minions are able to destroy one of the Guardians. The other Guardians begin to lose their powers as children stop believing in them. Pitch cleans out the Tooth Fairy's castle, breaks all of the Easter Bunny's eggs, and generally breaks the hopeful spirit of all the children he encounters. He undoes the work of the Sandman so that kids have nightmares instead of sweet dreams. Pitch's shadowy black stallions can be frightening. In a flashback, viewers see that the boy who was Jack Frost drowned saving his sister and then transformed into the icon of winter. Santa uses swords.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The Tooth Fairy seems smitten with Jack Frost, and a couple of her "baby" fairies swoon in his presence. In one brief scene, Tooth and Jack share a moment of staring in each other's eyes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Australian Easter Bunny says "bloody" this and "bloody" that fairly frequently; Pitch Black tells Bunny to "go suck an egg," and some insults are thrown back and forth, including "coward."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

No product placements in the movie, but there's a good bit of Rise of the Guardians merchandise available, from plush sets and figurines to games, apparel, calendars, and more. The story is also based on a book series.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Rise of the Guardians is sort of like The Avengers with childhood icons: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman. There's lots of action and some mild violence revolving around the menacing bad guy Pitch Black, who turns children's dreams into nightmares with his cavalry of scary stallions (some scenes may feel more intense in the movie's 3-D version). (Spoiler alert!) One Guardian is destroyed but comes back to life at the end of the movie. There's some insulting language like "coward" and "selfish" and "go suck an egg," and in a flashback, a main character drowns but transforms rather than dying. Whether they personally believe in these characters or not (and the nontraditional way they're portrayed here could get some of them wondering...), kids will root for the Guardians as they fight the forces of chaos and despair. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (34)
• Kids say (69)

Based on 34 parent reviews

Liked it, with a few caveats

Don't expect a happy holiday film, what's the story.

Based on the books by author/illustrator William Joyce, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS follows Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine ), a carefree immortal figure who creates winter fun for children who don't really believe in him. Everything changes when Pitch Black ( Jude Law ) rallies his nightmare forces to cause worldwide despair and make children stop believing in the Guardians of Childhood: Santa Claus ( Alec Baldwin ), the Easter Bunny ( Hugh Jackman ), the Tooth Fairy ( Isla Fisher ), and the Sandman. When the Man in the Moon tells the existing Guardians that Jack Frost has been chosen to join them, they must convince him to take up the cause before Pitch can snuff out the light of hope in every child of the world.

Is It Any Good?

Rise of the Guardians (not to be confused with Legends of Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole ) is an exquisitely crafted 3-D adventure. It has an ingenious plot and surprisingly substantive messages that make it just as appropriate for tweens/teens who are still into animation as for younger elementary-aged audiences. The voice performances are all fantastic. Baldwin is hilarious (and nearly unrecognizable) as a tough, tattooed Santa who can wield two swords one moment and play with his workshop's toys (made not by elves but by yetis!) the next. The Easter Bunny (Jackman, for once using his native Aussie accent) is a strapping buck rabbit (but never call him a kangaroo), and Fisher's Tooth Fairy is lovely and amusingly obsessed with teeth.

As the contemplative Jack Frost, Pine nearly reprises some of the characteristics of his young Captain Kirk in Star Trek -- both characters are impulsive loners who don't know how to work on a team until they come into their own and spring into action. The movie's visuals are dazzling (especially in each of the Guardians' headquarters), the dialogue funny, and the threat from the villain real and disturbing (and wow, Law has a creepy accent). It's such a refreshing treat to see an animated film so thoughtfully made that didn't come from Pixar. Director Peter Ramsey has made an impressive, imaginative fantasy where the wonder of childhood reigns supreme.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the importance of childhood beliefs and memories in the story. How are the characters who believe in these childhood heroes the ones who ultimately save the day? What's lost when kids stop believing?

How are the depictions of Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy different than in other childhood films/stories?

What does Santa mean when he tells Jack he has to find his "center"? Do you think real people have a "center" that dictates what they're passionate about and how they act?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 21, 2012
• On DVD or streaming : March 12, 2013
• Cast : Alec Baldwin , Hugh Jackman , Isla Fisher
• Director : Peter Ramsey
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : DreamWorks Animation
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Book Characters
• Run time : 98 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : thematic elements and some mildly scary action
• Last updated : February 4, 2024

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Rise of the guardians: film review.

The DreamWorks Animation production features the voices of Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Chris Pine.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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Rise of the Guardians Film Still - H 2012

A very odd assortment of mythical childhood figures, some of them afflicted with severe emotional insecurities and inferiority complexes, are thrown together as an unlikely set of action heroes in Rise of the Guardians , an attractively designed but overly busy and derivative mishmash of kid-friendly elements.

PHOTOS: Fall Movie Preview 2012: Major New Releases From Spielberg, Jackson, Tarantino, the Wachowskis, Burton and More

The Bottom Line A lively but derivative 3D storybook spree for some unlikely action heroes.

A sort of Justice League or Avengers equivalent made up of the fearsome team of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost, this final DreamWorks Animation production set to be distributed by Paramount will play in a predictably agreeable and profitable fashion to small fry but will skew young despite the presence of an excellent voice cast. The world premiere took place Oct. 10 at the Mill Valley Film Festival in advance of the Nov. 21 commercial bow.

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Based on the book series Guardians of Childhood by William Joyce , as well as on the author’s short film The Man in the Moon , the script by David Lindsay-Abaire ( Robots , Rabbit Hole ) plays fast and loose with these legendary fixtures of childhood, attaching to them all sorts of neuroses, feelings of inadequacy and the sense, or threat, of being ignored. Some might find this tack delightfully mischievous, but it’s just as easy to reject as ridiculous the notion that Jack Frost — a free spirit very much like Peter Pan who can fly around anywhere he wants — suffers from an emotional trauma he suffered hundreds of years earlier.

STORY: ‘Rise of the Guardians’ to Receive New ‘Vanity Fair’ Honor at Upcoming Rome Fest

Perhaps the most readily amusing of the gang is Santa, or, as he is more geographically named here, North. A muscular powerhouse rather than a fatso, North has heavily tatted forearms and, as wonderfully voiced by Alec Baldwin , sports a distinctive Russian accent not inappropriate to the proximity of that country to his palatial mountainside workshop. Also gathering here are the rangy and rascally E. Aster Bunnymund (an excellent Hugh Jackman ), the hummingbird-like Tooth (or Tooth Fairy, delightfully rendered by Isla Fisher ), the mute and tubby spinner of gold Sandman and, ultimately, Jack (a fine Chris Pine ), who has wandered the globe alone for centuries and feels woefully unrecognized compared to the others because he has no special day or occasion to make an imprint on the lives of children.

All the same, Jack is hard-pressed by North to join in the battle against Pitch (as in pitch black), a diabolical figure (plausibly acted by Jude Law ) who, after a long absence, has returned to throw Earth into darkness and provide much-needed nightmares to kids everywhere. As with Jack, Pitch’s re-emergence feels arbitrary and generic, while the tall, sneering and stubby-toothed figure bears far too close a resemblance to Harry Potter ‘s Voldemort, as do his minions, black steeds that disintegrate into fragments and flash through the sky almost identically to Death Eaters. So while Jack tries to sort out his issues of neglect (kids in small-town America don’t even notice him) and struggles over whether or not to join the others, the battle against the lord of the night commences.

Director Peter Ramsey , a longtime storyboard artist making his feature directorial debut after beginning with the 2009 telefilm Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space , never misses a chance to throw in one more roller-coaster-like visual ride to pump up the 3D experience. But the characters and settings are attractively designed, and the vocal performances have real color and a sense of fun that gently undercuts the treacly sincerity of certain obligatory kid-pandering moments.

Composer Alexandre Desplat really gets a workout here, dextrously blanketing the film with ever-changing tempos and motifs to suit the moment and propel the action. At least 10 percent of the 97-minute running time is devoted to the end credits.

Venue: Mill Valley Film Festival

Opens: Wednesday, Nov. 21 (Paramount)

Production: DreamWorks Animation SKG

Voice cast: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo

Director: Peter Ramsey

Screenwriter: David Lindsay-Abaire, based on the Guardians of Childhood book series by William Joyce and The Man in the Moon , a Reel FX short film directed by William Joyce

Producers: Christina Steinberg, Nancy Bernstein

Executive producers: William Joyce, Guillermo del Toro, Michael Siegel

Production designer: Patrick Marc Hanenberger

Visual effects supervisor: David Prescott

Editor: Joyce Arrastia

Visual consultant: Roger Deakins

PG rating, 97 minutes

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Movie Review: Rise of the Guardians Matches Childhood Wonder With Dazzling High-Tech Eye Candy

Haven’t we run out of iconic beings to cluster in po-mo kids’ movies yet? The Shrek films clustered together characters such as Pinocchio, the Gingerbread Man, Rumpelstiltskin, and Puss ‘n Boots, and more recently, Hotel Transylvania gave us a zippy comic adventure involving Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the gang. So, on cue, here’s Rise of the Guardians , an animated film that brings together Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman in an unlikely alliance to protect childhood innocence from evil and fear, like a fairy-tale variation on The Avengers . And as much as its premise may sound like the start of a bad joke, Peter Ramsey’s movie preserves just enough genuine childhood wonder in its whooshing, high-tech theatrics to make it a delight.

The conceit here is that the Guardians are about to gain a new member: Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine), a young and brash kid who can turn anything into ice and doesn’t seem to quite adhere to the age-old, noble, self-giving codes of this magical collective. (The Easter Bunny, charmingly voiced by Hugh Jackman in a full-on Australian accent, certainly doesn’t think much of the guy.) It’s all part of a renewed effort to fight a gathering evil: Pitch Black (Jude Law), a.k.a. the Bogeyman, is marshaling his forces in an effort to destroy childhood dreams and replace them with nightmares and darkness. So basically everybody’s screwed if the Guardians don’t get the job done.

The story is based on a series of books written by children’s author William Joyce, and at times it displays a patience with character and plot that feels downright quaint nowadays. (The script was written by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.) The opening scene shows us Jack Frost discovering his powers, in a scene that’s somehow both joyous and melancholy: He marvels at his newfound abilities, and yet is horrified at the fact that he’s invisible to the rest of the world, because nobody really believes in him. The story mines a surprising amount of pathos from Jack’s predicament; your heart goes out to the guy every time a kid passes through his spectral frame without noting his existence. There’s a structural elegance to it, too, as it turns out that this is part of Pitch’s Evil Plan. He can defeat all of the Guardians if he can stop the world’s children from believing in them. Indeed, one of the best things about the film is that it gives us a villain who is scary in both conception and execution. Half-shrouded in perpetual darkness, Pitch is followed around by black granite clouds wherever he goes; when he strikes, they turn into tentacles that suck all life and color out of everything they touch. Whoever designed him appears to have tapped into the same raw fear of grim, angular menace that the animators of Disney’s classic Sleeping Beauty did when they dreamed up Maleficent.

This is 2012, however, and traditional childhood heroes and resonant, creepy villains won’t be enough to keep the kids’ (or the adults’) attention, so there’s also plenty of whooshing and swooping and dazzling 3-D eye candy to spare. Santa Claus (here called North, and voiced by Alec Baldwin with a Russian accent) can’t just have any ordinary sled; he’s got a giant Millennium Falcon–esque contraption that roller-coasters around at warp speed and terrifies newbie passengers. (He’s also got a Yeti honor guard, which is pretty funny.) Not unlike Wreck-It Ralph , with its retro video-game aesthetic wedded to eye-popping action sequences, part of the kick here is seeing familiar, old-fashioned figures in hypermodern situations. And, to its credit, the whole thing looks amazing — Roger Deakins and Guillermo del Toro served as technical guides, so that’s perhaps to be expected. The result is an effective combination of the new and old. It’s both hip and gooey enough to make me look forward to the inevitable sequel.

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Review: ‘Rise of the Guardians’ gives the storybook an edge

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In DreamWorks’ new animation adventure “Rise of the Guardians,” Santa has tats, he goes by the name North and he sounds like Alec Baldwin. Jack Frost is a renegade kid, a snowboarding/ice skating ace brought to life by Chris Pine, who brings all of his “Star Trek” swagger. The movie’s total nightmare of a boogeyman is Pitch, who lurks around in the dark and drips with sinister sarcasm courtesy of Jude Law. It’s as if hip-hop has come to Candyland, bringing an urban edginess to the traditional storybook rap. But that’s only the tip of the 3-D iceberg.

Since childhood innocence, and belief in all things Hallmark is at risk, the film keeps piling on. Bunny is a fist-full-of-dyed-eggs Easter-wood type with Hugh Jackman doing the tough talking. Tooth is a sexy sweetie thanks to Isla Fisher. But her fairy force doesn’t stop at doling out quarters, they also save the “teeth,” which seems to make them candidates for a guest turn on “Dexter.” If you’re not careful, edgy can send things right over the cliff.

There is more than the usual darkness in children’s author William Joyce’s original imagining of the Guardians as a collective of protectors handpicked by the Man in the Moon (Joyce serves as “Guardians” executive producer along with Guillermo del Toro). The film’s new chapter, shaped by playwright and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire with storyboard artist Peter Ramsey making his directing debut, unfolds about 300 years into their alliance. North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy (the silent and often snoozing Sand Man) are tight. Jack remains a disaffected teen who doesn’t understand how he even made Moon’s list — his special talents involve turning water into ice faster than a Sub-Zero.

PHOTOS: ‘Rise of the Guardians’

But foreboding forces are gathering because kids are far too happy for party-pooping Pitch’s taste. He concocts a plan to wipe out any good vibrations and amasses an army made from the stuff of very bad dreams. For reasons known only to the Man in the Moon, the Guardians must enlist Jack in this fight and Frost has no intention of making it easy. There’s some back and forth, including a pitch by Pitch that Jack cross over to the dark side. But this is a fairy tale so you know how that ends. As good as Law is as Pitch in stirring up trouble — and he is very good at being bad — the real surprise is Pine. He might have a face and a physique tailor-made for real-life action-hero gigs, but he’s definitely got a voice for animation. If Frost had been frozen, Pitch would not have been the only problem.

Making the threat global opens the way for the animators to spice things up with forays into distant lands — a great chase scene across the rooftops of Shanghai is the best. But for the most part, the filmmakers keep things grounded; much of the war rages around two kids who live in a small New England town. Jamie (Dakota Goyo) is the boy who won’t stop believing. His little sister, Sophie (Georgie Grieve), adds charm and comic relief by stumbling into the portal that links the real world to the Guardians’. Not surprisingly, she’s content to run amok while the Guardians struggle to keep up with her — apparently their superpowers are no match for a toddler.

There are some pretty scary bits for the munchkin crowd. The fire-breathing horses that Pitch unleashes might be too frightening for some tykes, but it’s the dungeons, even without the dragons, that are the most unsettling. The mood swings wildly between the emotional ups and downs of childhood — including what Jack remembers of his — and full-on “Terminator”-style fighting. The two don’t always sit well together.

PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments

The CG animation is painterly and might have been too perfect for the tone if the filmmakers hadn’t mussed it up with some street grit and in-your-face attitude thanks primarily to Baldwin and Jackman. When Pitch goes about conjuring up evil — one touch and unicorns go up in black smoke — the animation is crazily good. The action scenes with Jack shredding snowdrifts, or riding a blizzard’s gale-force winds like waves, are totally chill too.

But North’s workshop is a manic mess of elves and toys and mayhem. He really needs to get his act together and not rely on a sasquatch (big, hairy, origins unknown) to manage things. Tooth’s many minions are on the Type-A side, like hummingbirds on steroids with all their flitting here and there. Some of the scenes are minimal in detail, others are jam-packed and can make for visual overload. There is a lot to savor in “Rise of the Guardians,” but sometimes too much of a good thing can be exhausting.

------------------------------

‘Rise of the Guardians’

MPAA rating: PG for thematic elements and some mildly scary action

Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Playing: In general release

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Former Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey is an award-winning entertainment journalist and bestselling author. She left the newsroom in 2015. In addition to her critical essays and reviews of about 200 films a year for The Times, Sharkey’s weekly movie reviews appeared in newspapers nationally and internationally. Her books include collaborations with Oscar-winning actresses Faye Dunaway on “Looking for Gatsby” and Marlee Matlin on “I’ll Scream Later.” Sharkey holds a degree in journalism and a master’s in communications theory from Texas Christian University.

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Rise of the Guardians (2012)

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'Guardians' Doesn't Rise To Its Potential

Stephanie Zacharek

Bunnymund (Hugh Jackman), Sandman, North (Alec Baldwin) and Tooth (Isla Fisher) welcome Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to a group of mythical characters sworn to protect the world's children. DreamWorks hide caption

Rise of the Guardians

• Director: Peter Ramsey
• Genre: Family
• Running time: 97 minutes

Rated PG for thematic elements and some mildly scary action

With: Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher

Watch Clips

'He's Still Awake'

Credit: Paramount

'We Protect Them'

Credit: 'We Protect Them'

William Joyce's illustrated books for children are marvels of wit and wonder, rendered in softly shaded colors with an art-deco flair. In books like A Day with Wilbur Robinson and Santa Calls , winsome dinosaurs wear miniature fezzes on their tiny heads; a roly-poly Santa, complete with monocle (the better to read the names of good little boys and girls), looks as if he's just stepped off a '30s Christmas card; and modes of transport include Buck Rogers-style spaceships and locomotives of the sort Superman could stop with his bare hands.

Rise of the Guardians is adapted from Joyce's book series The Guardians of Childhood. But the occasional Joycean touch aside, it bears so little resemblance to the look and feel of its source material that it ought to be considered an entirely different beast.

The story is convoluted and overly complicated: In the opening, we meet Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine), a skinny nonmortal with a shock of silvery Rod Stewart hair. Frost has been given a gift by the moon — he can create snow and ice crystals with a wave of his crooked staff — but he's been around for 300 years, and he still doesn't know who he is or where he came from.

Meanwhile, a Santa Claus type known as North (Alec Baldwin) — he's heavily tattooed and speaks with a thick Russian accent — discovers that the Bogeyman, aka Pitch (Jude Law), is alive and well and turning the dreams of children everywhere into nightmares, zapping any sense of wonder right out of the little tykes.

The crazed adventure that follows involves an Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) with an Australian accent, a fluttery tooth-fairy princess (Isla Fisher) in an iridescent Rockettes unitard, and a passel of little elf types in conical outfits, skittering here and there underfoot.

Tooth and Jack Frost keep watch over Jamie (Dakota Goyo). DreamWorks hide caption

Tooth and Jack Frost keep watch over Jamie (Dakota Goyo).

"Skittering" may be the operative word here: Rise of the Guardians , made by first-time director Peter Ramsey (who has been working for years as a storyboard artist), is too cluttered and manic to bring real pleasure. There's barely a moment when someone or something isn't flying through the sky, slipping on the ice or hippety-hopping down the bunny trail.

And with a few notable exceptions, the character design leaves much to be desired: Many of them look more like Robert Zemeckis-style concoctions, with semi-human eyes and waxy skin, rather than Joycean creations. That's a shame, because the picture does have its share of marvelous, semi-hallucinatory details, like an army of pastel-colored Easter eggs marching along bumptiously on slender little legs; they have no faces, so they look a little weird, but wonderfully so.

Guardians does feature one character who is pure Joyce: Sandman is a diminutive football-shaped fellow with a button nose and twinkling eyes. Not only is he made entirely of golden, glittery sand, but he flies around in a little Busby Berkeley-style airplane also made of sand; his charm quotient is off the charts. It's notable, though, that Sandman doesn't speak: He's an oasis of calm in an otherwise extremely busy movie. Rise of the Guardians , despite its good intentions, doesn't trust children to sit still for a minute. So much for preserving their sense of wonder.

Den of Geek

Rise Of The Guardians review

DreamWorks Animation brings the work of William Joyce to the screen in style, with Rise Of The Guardians. Here's our review...

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Whisper it quietly, but the occasionally-maligned DreamWorks Animation seems to have found yet another vein of form. Madagascar: Europe’s Most Wanted was surprisingly witty, enjoyable and worthwhile, in spite of being the third entry in its franchise. And now comes Rise Of The Guardians , the first in what is no doubt a series of adaptations of William Joyce’s The Guardians Of Childhood books.

The setup is straightforward enough. The Guardians of the film’s title are the united force of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy (each suitably stylised). Faced with the impending threat of The Boogeyman and his desire to fill the dreams of the planet’s young with nightmares, they find themselves with a new recruit, in the shape of Jack Frost. And, from there, comes together a battle between good and evil, which ultimately rests on the belief of children, or otherwise.

Last year, of course, we had another film that sought to explore the possible backstory of one of the film’s characters. The terrific Arthur Christmas spent an entire film with Santa Claus and his family, but Rise Of The Guardians doesn’t have that luxury. Instead, it scratches around them, unable to give them the depth that Joyce could provide on the printed page. And yet Peter Ramsey’s movie is confident in choosing its details, and it does a solid job of introducing its cast of characters – through the eyes of outsider Jack Frost – as well as the force they’re up against. It’s not interested in going through each and giving an origin story for them all, thankfully. The familiarity of the characters themselves means that Rise Of The Guardians can make some assumptions of its audiences, and crack on with telling its story instead.

Where the film strikes gold, then, is in its terrific visuals, and a series of very strong and striking action sequences. DreamWorks’ own Puss In Boots was similarly action-packed, but there, said sequences felt more about treading water and filling time, distracting the audience with noise and colour. The action in Rise Of The Guardians, though, is the most exciting that DreamWorks has put on the screen since How To Train Your Dragon , and unlike something like Sony’s Hotel Transylvania , there’s enough glue in the narrative in-between to contextualise it and give it meaning. It’s not action for the sake of it, it’s action because the crumbs have been laid to get the story there.

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Furthermore, it looks stunning . Not just in technical way, although the graphical arms race for CG animation still clearly has ceiling room left in it. Rather that getting Roger Deakins on board as a consultant has proven, not for the first time, a masterstroke (the same too for Guillermo del Toro, it should be said). The composition of some of the shots is fantastic, and there’s both a scope and majesty to many of the visuals. It’s not just restricted to buildings and environments, either. The introduction of Jack Frost injects some quiet, wonderful wintery effects that look quite brilliant on the big screen.

Credit, too, for an outstanding score from Alexandre Desplat. You might want to be buying yourself a copy of that.

The film does falter in a couple of areas. Firstly, the Boogeyman is a surprisingly underwhelming antagonist. Considering the fringes of darkness that Rise Of The Guardians is willing to explore, when it gets to the core of its main villain, he proves surprisingly weak. His actions, and the fury he unleashes, look spectacular. But Jude Law seems a curious voicing choice: there’s nothing particularly sinister or creeping-under-the-skin about the way he delivers the lines. It’s clearly a deliberate choice, just not a particularly successful one.

The other issue is arguably not so much of a problem, more of a decision the filmmakers took. Rise Of The Guardians is firmly committed to entertaining under 12s, and as such, it’s less interested in their parents. Many animated films now try and operate on two levels, but Rise Of The Guardians – while hardly alienating to adults – is content with targeting one level as well as it can. That’s fine, too, but there’s a tangible lack of wit and edge to Rise Of The Guardians that could have potentially lifted it still further.

Yet for every adult that may just be a little underwhelmed by Rise Of The Guardians , there are three children out there who are going to love it. At its peak – and there are many peaks here – it’s terrific family entertainment, and it makes the idea of a reunion with these characters a few years down the line an enticing one. Furthermore, it’s not afraid to be a little bit scary in places, and at no stage does it seek to pacify and talk down to its target audience.

It’s a successful movie, this. It’s not quite DreamWorks Animation at the peak of its powers, but it’s really not far off at all. And when the movie hits top gear, it’s exhilarating, exciting, and a tightly constructed ride, one that’s off the screen before it has any chance to outstay its welcome.

One final thing. Rise Of The Guardians is also, movingly, dedicated to William Joyce’s daughter, who tragically died during the production of the film, leading to Joyce stepping down as co-directing. From where we’re sat, it’s a lovely tribute to her, and our heart goes out to the Joyce family.

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Editor, author, writer, broadcaster, Costner fanatic. Now runs Film Stories Magazine.

Screen Rant

'rise of the guardians' review, rise of the guardians presents a surprisingly heartfelt, though often predictable, narrative about the power of belief - and the importance of companionship..

Pre-release buzz for Rise of the Guardians , the latest film from DreamWorks Animation, has drawn a wide-variety of reactions due primarily to the film's silly but, at the same time, intriguing premise - a team of universally beloved folkloric legends tasked with protecting the children of Earth from evil threats. Before the movie's helmer, Peter Ramsey, came onboard (with only Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space and second-unit directorial credits to his name),  Rise of the Guardians  was the brainchild of fan-favorite writer and production designer, William Joyce ( Meet the Robinsons and Robots ) - who is also publishing a standalone Guardians of Childhood  book series that traces the origins of each character depicted in the film.

Rise of the Guardians  takes place several hundred years after the books but, despite dropping " Childhood " from the movie title, the final film still spends a lot of time servicing the juice box crowd. As a result, should adult viewers and cautiously optimistic animation fans pass on  Rise of the Guardians or does the movie offer a healthy balance of humor and heart (plus holiday fun) for all ages?

Fortunately, thanks to a solid mix of clever twists on familiar mythological beings, both the script (penned by  Oz: The Great and Powerful contributor David Lindsay-Abaire) and visual aesthetic (Guillermo del Toro serves as a producer) offer plenty for older moviegoers to enjoy. As an example, instead of the typically jolly grandfather portrayal of Santa, Guardians paints the legendary character as sword-wielding, tattooed, brawler North - the Guardian of Wonder (voiced by Alec Baldwin). Rise of the Guardians falls short of serving the more mature and thought-provoking thematic material as well as ambitious storytelling depicted in other genre-blurring animated offerings, such as Pixar's Up and Toy Story 3 or Nickelodeon's  Rango ; however, the film's likable roster of main characters, and some smart supporting additions (such as North's yetis and elves), deliver plenty of enjoyable moments and even a few impactful (albeit familiar) dramatic beats.

The core storyline follows Jack Frost (Chris Pine), a reckless and lonely "legend" invisible to everyone around him. With no friends of his own, and lacking any memory of his pre-Frost life, he moves from town to town thanklessly providing snow days to the children of the Earth. Then, one day, an ancient evil is reawakened. When Nightmare King, Pitch (Jude Law), begins poisoning the dreams of children around the world with fear, the Moon summons Jack to join an elite group of "Guardians," North, Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth (Isla Fisher), and Sandy, charged with protecting Earth's children. Unsure of his own abilities, it's up to Jack to take down Pitch before the Nightmare King can snuff out his fellow guardians - replacing the light of childhood "belief" with darkness and terror.

In the wrong hands, the fundamental premise might have been a cheesy and convoluted mess but Rise of the Guardians presents a surprisingly heartfelt, though often predictable, narrative about the power of belief - and the importance of companionship. Some viewers will, no doubt, scoff at the belief "message" - since, for anyone who no longer believes in Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or Sandman, the core message loses some of its magic. That said, even if the various story beats are centered around a thin moral and a fairly traditional coming of age tale, the characters flesh out the experience with an enjoyable group dynamic - and an especially charming mix of rivalry and camaraderie. One scene in particular, which sees the  Guardians  join forces to assist Tooth in collecting teeth, serves as a sharp example of how the filmmakers expanded on a goofy concept with solid writing and slick art design - delivering a batch of memorable characters that blend kick butt exploits with lighthearted hijinks (along with tongue-in-cheek riffs on long-standing mythology).

Frost is an entertaining lead protagonist and offers an enjoyable "newcomer" perspective that helps to educate viewers on the cheeky setup. Similarly, characters like the Sandman (Sandy), who does not "speak" the entire film, are surprisingly impactful in spite of their folklore roots. Though, the juxtaposition of Pitch and Frost is often on-the-nose - clearly intended to exemplify how characters that have experienced the pain of neglect and isolation can ultimately choose very different paths for their futures -  one of inspiration, the other of fear. As a result, the primary conflict relies on a lot of standard good versus evil tropes and, subsequently, execution that's short on surprises.

As mentioned, Rise of the Guardians isn't likely to challenge older moviegoers with opportunities for post-viewing introspection but that doesn't mean that, moment-to-moment, post-adolescent viewers won't be swept up in the onscreen story beats. The movie offers a number of smart set pieces that take full advantage of the reimagined heroes - each one providing insight into the larger Guardians world (with peeks into Santa's workshop, Bunny's egg sanctuary, etc). The film can also be surprisingly somber at times and a few plot developments will be heartbreaking, regardless of age. That said, none of the darker developments are outright manipulative; instead, they serve as important turning points in the "power of belief" concept.

Rise of the Guardians  is playing in 3D theaters and the value of the premium up-charge is debatable. There's no doubt that, like a lot of animated films, the visuals are enhanced by the added 3D depth. Certain character designs and environments look great in 3D but action is often frantic and the effect can have a negative impact on fast-moving sequences - lost in a blur of flashy colors and quick motions.

Given the childhood-centric plot, Rise of the Guardians is going to be underwhelming for older moviegoers hoping for an especially unique animated film experience. However, while the project relies heavily on very standard plot developments, the lively and entertaining characters, coupled with a rich art style, definitely expand the film's appeal and onscreen value. Rise of the Guardians isn't as memorable as some of its contemporaries, and the overarching message will be hard to translate for non-believing adults, but the film still offers a worthwhile dose of harmless fun and worthwhile heart.

If you’re still on the fence about  Rise of the Guardians , check out the trailer below:

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Let us know what you thought of the film in the comment section below.

Follow me on Twitter @ benkendrick  for future reviews, as well as movie, TV, and gaming news.

Rise of the Guardians  is Rated PG for thematic elements and some mildly scary action. Now playing in 2D and 3D theaters.

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Movie Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012)

• Greg Eichelberger
• Movie Reviews
• 10 responses
• --> November 25, 2012

Discussing strategy?

Dreamworks, which scored last year with “ Kung Fu Panda 2 ” and earlier in 2012 with “ Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted ,” brings another ambitious animated film to the screen with the telling of William Joyce’s book, Rise of the Guardians . And while not as colorful or giddy as the above-mentioned pictures, this combination of “ The Polar Express ,” “ Hop ” and “ The Nightmare Before Christmas ” certainly rates high enough on the creative meter to receive decent marks.

Directed by Peter Ramsey (whose only other such gig was the TV movie, “ Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space ,” but a storyboard artist on such productions as “ Men in Black ” and “ Fight Club “) from a script by David Lindsay-Abaire (“ Robots ,” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Rabbithole”), film tells the tale of how beloved characters like Jack Frost, St. Nicholas, the Sand Man, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy team up to try and stop the Boogie Man from stealing the dreams of children throughout the world.

On its face, Rise of the Guardians can be a cluttered, unorganized mess, but Ramsey does just enough to keep things in some kind of order. And despite a bit of a drag (even in a 97-minute running time), there is enough coherence and lucidity to keep the young ones fairly entertained while throwing mom and dad a funny one-liner or pop cultural reference or two every now and then.

The picture opens with a young man rising from the murky waters and conversing with the Man in the Moon, who duly informs him he is Jack Frost (voice of Chris Pine, “ Unstoppable “). We then move to the North Pole, where Santa Claus (called “North” here for some reason, and voiced by Alec Baldwin with an accent seemingly stolen from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) is given information that evil things are afoot. He gathers Bunny (Hugh Jackman doing his best Steve Irwin), Fairy (Isla Fisher, “ Rango “) and Sandy (who does not speak) and finds out that the Moon (who also does not have any lines) has chosen the irresponsible and lackluster Frost to join the Immortal Guardians.

“On, Donner and Blitzen . . .”

This mythical Justice League discovers that the kids’ happy nocturnal thoughts are being replaced by fear-fueled nightmares provided by the Boogie Man, or “Pitch” (look up “ The Devil and Daniel Webster ” to understand the meaning of this). Voiced by an appropriately sinister Jude Law, he knows that he can steal the little ones’ memories if he snatches their newly-fallen teeth, so he and his dark horse-like minions begin wholesale grand larceny of molars, incisors and bicuspids.

The plan succeeds so well, that just one child, Jamie (Dakota Goyo, “ Thor ” and “ Real Steel “) is left to believe in the Immortals (of course this faith is supported by the fact that he also SAW them one night in his bedroom). Trying to rally against the consummate evil, as well as discover the secrets of his own past and become an actual tangible entity, Jack undergoes the typical movie hero transformation and learns that his actions have an affect on the children, especially Jamie.

Intense, dreary, gloomy and morose in many parts (perhaps too much so for those under nine), Rise of the Guardians will likely not become a particularly memorable Holiday classic, but it is certainly a noble effort of the genre. Those wishing to see the 3D version are not likely to enjoy the lighter pocketbook associated with such ventures, but the technology does acquit itself on several occasions, notably the battle scenes in which the good guys try to overcome Pitch’s forces of darkness.

Tagged: Boogieman , novel adaptation , Santa

I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.

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'Movie Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012)' have 10 comments

November 25, 2012 @ 10:55 am Emerson

Sometimes movies just have to be enjoyed with a child by your side.

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November 25, 2012 @ 11:32 am Sgt.Pepper

Personally it was the ‘gloomier’ atmosphere that was so appealing. Had it been cheery like every other holiday movie, you’d would have shredded it because it was ‘more of the same’.

November 25, 2012 @ 1:08 pm Dusco

I was cought off guard by the sad explanation of how Jack became Jack Frost. Its one of the better handled touching moments I’ve seen in a childrens animated movie.

November 25, 2012 @ 6:06 pm Melissa

There was an audible gasp in the theater when it was revealed. It was so sad.

November 25, 2012 @ 1:42 pm Alyssa

In the Dreamworks stable, this ranks comfortably between KungFu Panda and Madagascar in terms of story and rewatchability.

November 25, 2012 @ 3:39 pm Jenna

I felt it was a great holiday movie. It has the right amount of emotion and lighthearted fun for the whole family to enjoy.

November 25, 2012 @ 5:11 pm steve

i’m inclined to buy the books for more.

November 25, 2012 @ 9:41 pm Coorfields

3/5? The movie is deserving of more than that (you gave Wreck-it Ralph 4/5). It is well animated, has good pacing, strong voice talent, and an especially heartfelt message.

February 10, 2013 @ 11:04 am Greg Eichelberger

The rating system of this site is a bit different. I gave “Guardians” a decent recommendation, but I still liked “Wreck-It-Ralph” a bit more. A 3/5 is actually a higher rating on this website than a 4/5. And to Emerson, I ALWAYS see animated films with my children by my side. Many of my critiques of such pictures are based on their reactions to the movie.

December 7, 2012 @ 10:39 am hopelesslydeb

Fresh change-up from convention.

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RISE OF THE GUARDIANS Review

Rise of the Guardians review. Matt reviews Peter Ramsay's Rise of the Guardians featuring the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, and Jude Law.

The quirky spin on its famous characters isn't the most interesting aspect of Rise of the Guardians .  The most interesting part of the film is how it upholds fame as the biggest power in the world.  It's an odd subtext for almost any movie, and especially a family film.  On the surface, there's not much going on other than some fast-moving visuals and a smattering of jokes that wear too quickly on the premise.  Director Peter Ramsay and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire may not have crafted a particularly thrilling adventure, but they've perhaps unintentionally created a fascinating value judgment.

The children of the world are protected by "guardians": a group of beloved holiday figures and mythical creatures.  There are other mythical figures in the world, but they can't be seen by children because "no one believes in them".  One of these non-guardians is Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine ), who finds himself reluctantly recruited by the other guardians—Santa Claus ( Alec Baldwin ), the Easter Bunny ( Hugh Jackman ), the Tooth Fairy ( Isla Fisher ), and the Sandman—when Pitch Black ( Jude Law ) comes to spread fear, ruin the reputation of the other guardians, and make himself the only known legend in the world.  Frost agrees to help only because it could lead him to reclaim his memories, and find out who he was before he awoke as an invisible figure who brings snow days to children.

What should be the film's hook never quite comes together or rises above more than a simple joke.  The Guardians gain their power on being recognized by children, but Ramsay has played it so that Santa and the Easter Bunny don't fit the popular imagination of these characters.  Santa speaks with a Russian accent, has tattoos, and wields giant swords.  The Easter Bunny is Australian and wields a boomerang.  These characters crave recognition and yet are somewhat unrecognizable as they're depicted in Rise of the Guardians .  It could be a fun twist except Ramsay never builds off these descriptions.  It's a one-off joke that makes the characters distinct but never multi-dimensional.

Instead of taking a breath to move the supporting characters beyond their quirks, Rise of the Guardians is all about the fast-paced action.  Apparently, the most important quality a guardian can have is speed.  Santa rushes around on his sleigh, the Easter Bunny moves through underground tunnels he can summon at will, the Tooth Fairy flits about, and Jack can fly.  All of this is used to chase down Pitch, or to try and repair the chaos Pitch has caused or else the Guardians will no longer be in good standing with the children.

And what does this involve?  As even Jack points out, it's bribery.  To "protect" the children and to make them believe is reliant on gifts.  Santa doles out presents, the Tooth Fairy pays cash, the Sandman provides sweet dreams, and the Easter Bunny makes the hunting of colored eggs not seem like the behavior of the insane.  Jack's gift is providing snow days and creating snowball fights, so it's an intangible joy, for which he goes unrecognized and is literally invisible to everyone.

Being invisible is the worst fate for a guardian.  For all of the claims of protecting the children and bringing them joy, it's a system based entirely on fame.  Pitch is the resentful former star who was big during the Dark Ages, but now feels shunned for not being able to spread fear anymore due to those blasted guardians.  But at least his motives are pure in their selfishness.  The guardians' identity and power comes solely from their popularity, and it's a popularity that comes from giving gifts.  To claim themselves as the "protectors" of children seems slightly delusional.

The intent of the film seems to be that what the guardians bring is magic , so the filmmakers can't be faulted for at least aiming to express the importance of children believing in mythical, caring figures.  And as for the end result, the audience at my screening really went for the film and applauded at the end.  They were swept up in the adventure because who doesn't want to root for Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny even if they never celebrated Christmas or went on an Easter egg hunt?  After all, these characters are pagan, not religious.  More than pagan, they're celebrities, and as Rise of the Guardians teaches, power only comes through popularity.

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• DVD & Streaming

Rise of the Guardians

• Action/Adventure , Animation , Comedy , Drama , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 21, 2012
• Chris Pine as Jack Frost; Alec Baldwin as North, Jude Law as Pitch; Isla Fisher as Tooth; Hugh Jackman as Bunnymund; Dakota Goyo as Jamie Bennett

Home Release Date

• March 12, 2013
• Peter Ramsey

Distributor

• Paramount Pictures

Movie Review

Jack Frost used to be a real, warm-blooded boy. But for some 300 years now he’s kept people reaching for a sweater and another log for the fire. With his magical staff, it’s as simple as point and click. Sleet and slush, iced-over lakes, frozen window panes, they’re all his handiwork. And he particularly enjoys a little playful mischief—whipping up an unexpected snowstorm here or stirring up a slip-slidey snowball fight there.

Deep down in his icy core, though, the teen-turned-chill-maker is full of questions: Who is he? Where did he come from? What’s his purpose? All he can remember is that first day long ago when he awoke in the depths of darkness, rose up out of a frozen lake and was greeted by the brilliant bluish light from the full moon overhead. He’s sure that he was given his freezing abilities by that unspeaking Man in the Moon way up there. But to what end, he hasn’t got a clue.

The Guardians, on the other hand, they seem to have it all together. North, Tooth, Bunnymund, Sandman: They all know what their roles are. They know it’s their duty to protect children and keep dreams safe. North (he’s Santa Claus) hands out presents and candy canes. Tooth (as in the Tooth Fairy ) collects pearly whites from under pillows. Bunnymund (the Easter Bunny, of course), hides colorful eggs. And Sandman (no explanation needed) sparkles up dreams with golden sand. That’s the good stuff, as far as Jack is concerned.

So he’s pretty surprised when, one day, the Guardians ask him to join their group. It doesn’t make sense, really. Kids don’t believe in him! Cold weather’s just cold weather to them. He’s a nobody. But North makes it clear that it’s the will of the Man in the Moon.

“There’s a real danger coming,” he tells Jack. The dark dream-spoiler Pitch has suddenly reared his black head again. This boogeyman is stirring up an army of galloping nightmares. And he’s already captured nearly all of Tooth’s little fairies. If he can keep the Guardians from their duties, the children will stop believing. And when kids blast past belief, all manner of bad things can happen.

It’s time for an icy guy from nowhere to step up and help. And that’s a warm (hearted) front that Jack never saw coming.

Positive Elements

The members of the Guardians are an odd bunch, to say the least—each with his or her own powers, workloads and neuroses—but they’re all willing to lay down their lives for the kids they’re assigned to protect. And they take an oath to that effect. In fact, as Pitch’s plan to induce kids to stop believing starts unfolding, the heroes begin to lose their strength. Still, the good guys limp up to try to protect a group of innocents. And it’s at that point that the kids, filled with renewed belief, step up to protect them from Pitch’s nightmares.

Indeed, the film seeks to empower children haunted by fears and nightmares by personifying and then vanquishing the evil behind them.

Jack, when cornered by a glowering Pitch, offers up his powerful staff in exchange for the life of a tiny defenseless fairy. And in a flashback we see that Jack, as a human teen, saved his frightened little sister from falling through the ice on a frozen lake.

North suggests that we’re all like a set of nesting dolls. Different aspects of our personalities make up the outer layers but our core is the most important part of who we are. When the Guardians call out to kids, North wishes them a “Merry Christmas,” Bunny calls out “Happy Easter” and Tooth cheerily reminds them, “Don’t forget to floss!”

Grown-ups are reminded not to spend so much time preparing for the holidays that they fail to enjoy them with their kiddos.

Spiritual Elements

The Guardians (akin to guardian angels) all have their own magical abilities—ranging from Jack Frost’s blasts of ice to Bunny’s ability to create magical rabbit holes that provide him shortcuts to the action. It’s said that these gifts were given to them by the Man in the Moon, a deity-like character who never speaks while watching over them from high above in the night sky. And Jack Frost’s origin story of breaking free from darkness into light carries that God-like symbolism even further. He says at one point, “When the Moon tells you something, believe it.”

But don’t too quickly link the Man in the Moon to God Himself. Because the analogy breaks down with this: It’s a child’s belief that keeps the Guardians strong, not the Man in the Moon. When they no longer believe, the mythical heroes grow weak.

Pitch, meanwhile, is something of a Satan figure eager to twist what is good and engulf the world in darkness. In his case, a child’s victory involves acknowledging the presence of evil, yet refusing to fear him (“I do believe in you. I’m just not afraid of you”).

Bunny is the only character who says anything that might be considered close to a biblical truth—but even that stops short of recognizing the true order of the spiritual universe. He talks about his special holiday’s meaning, saying, “Easter is new beginnings, new life. Easter is about hope.”

Sexual Content

None. Though Tooth’s fairies all coo over the cute Jack as if he were an icy Justin Bieber.

Violent Content

There is a threat communicated through Pitch’s growing number of black, ghost-like nightmares. Shaped as horses, they swallow up hundreds of tiny fairies. Pitch himself shoots a magical black-tipped arrow into Sandman and it dissolves him into a swirl of black sand. After the Guardians paint thousands of eggs for Easter, we see that Pitch has smashed them all.

Defending themselves and their small human charges, Sandman wields long whips of golden sand and North swings around a couple of Russian swords, using their weapons (only) against the wispy nightmares.

Tooth tries to calm a young girl by showing her some of the collected children’s teeth with “cute little bits of blood and gum” still on them. Some of Jack’s mischief gets dangerous. For instance, he takes a young boy on a careening sled ride, icing a path past cars and brick walls through the streets of town. In the end, the kid crashes into a snowbank, then loses a tooth when he’s walloped by a sofa that was also sent sliding on the ice. North’s tiny elves occasionally push or thump one another (à la the minions in Despicable Me ).

When teenage Jack falls through the iced-over lake, he drowns, floating peacefully in the frigid water. His “death” quickly dissolves into clouds of memory as he assumes his frosty new role.

Crude or Profane Language

The Australian-accented Bunny spits out “bloody” and “crikey” several times each. He also interjects the Down Under-inspired retort “rack off!” We also hear “gosh.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

You’ve seen the likes of Rise of the Guardians before.

This is a colorful little animated confection filled with recognizable (read: derivative) mythical characters. And it bases its tale on that well-worn question, “If kids stop believing in the residents of their childhood fantasies, will those make-believe heroes cease to exist?

The twist here is that these jingle bell-wearing and tooth-rescuing good guys are all part of a magical brotherhood, pulled together by the Man in the Moon and assigned to protect the well-being and pleasant dreams of children everywhere. On the other side of the dreamy battlefield? A boogeyman baddie intent on stealing every child’s belief and replacing it with nightmares and fear.

There’s lots of holiday sparkle and some solid voice work here. But this pic’s rather bland script fails to enchant. And, more importantly, if you’re looking for even a single Easter egg devoted to the faith behind the beloved holidays celebrating the birth and resurrection of Jesus, well, Jack Frost is absolutely no help at all with that.

So here’s the “I’m dreading the holidays … they always come too soon” perspective: Rise of the Guardians is a purely secular mishmash of “keep believin'” adventures and lightly threatening swirling shadows that eventually winds up in a happy ending. The best that can happen with this rambunctious flick is that bits of its swooping, twirling, 3-D Santa’s sleigh ride could end up becoming a theme park roller coaster ride someday.

And here’s the “I can’t wait for Christmas! It’s the best time of the year!” take: Christian parents who end up watching this movie with their kids may feel a renewed sense of urgency to be intentional about teaching them the true meaning of Christmas and Easter. Indeed, as we see here, belief does matter. Just not for the same reasons that worry the Guardians. So Rise of the Guardians can turn into an “excuse” for us to renew our passion for finding creative ways to help our kids embrace truth even as Hollywood storytellers are selling them fantasy.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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RISE OF THE GUARDIANS

"bringing hope and light to children".

What You Need To Know:

(BBB, C, V) Very strong moral worldview with some redemptive elements including an emphasis in sacrifice in order to bring “hope, wonder, and light,” character says Easter is about “new beginnings, new life and hope,” the light scares the darkness away, character is chosen to bring light to the world, character looks up to the sky and almost in a prayer fashion asks for the meaning of his life and its purpose and later decides to take the calling to help bring light and hope to children and the world, plus legendary characters like Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, etc., though it does show their weaknesses, talks about “magic,” and stresses that the characters need to find their “center”; no foul language; light violence and slapstick comedy includes character falls from the sky, character does a high jump and falls into the snow, elves hit each other, character falls into freezing water; no sexual content and tooth fairy kisses another character on the cheek; no nudity; no alcohol use; no smoking or drug use; and, nothing else objectionable.

More Detail:

THE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, a new animated feature, shows Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost trying to maintain wonder, light and hope in the world, in THE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS. THE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS promotes making sacrifices for the sake of bringing hope to the world.

Jack Frost is longing to find meaning and purpose to why he is the way he is. Though Jack Frost can bring joy to children by producing snow days, he isn’t seen and loved by them, which gives him pain. One night, Jack prays to the man on the moon for direction and meaning.

The Boogie Man, Pitch Black, has started to appear to children, destroying their good dreams and replacing them with bad dreams. Concerned, “The Guardians” hold a meeting. They include a tattooed Santa Claus nicknamed North, the feisty Easter Bunny called Bunny, Tooth the Tooth Fairy, and the sandy Sandman. They hear from The Man on the Moon, who tells them to bring in Jack Frost and make him a guardian. They do, but Jack resists. He’s not sure if he wants to sacrifice himself for the task.

Suddenly, Pitch’s dark horses attack the Tooth Fairy. They take every child’s tooth, the memories from the teeth, and the fairies that help the Tooth Fairy collect the teeth at night. Devastated that she lost all those memories and can’t get to every child during the night, she calls on the Guardians.

The guardians decide to help the Tooth Fairy collect the teeth in the middle of the night around the world. They are able to do it, but children have already started disbelieving in the Tooth Fairy.

Jack Frost longs to know his past. The Tooth Fairy reveals to him she had collected his memories with the teeth he lost, but now Pitch has stolen them. Jack decides to work with the Guardians to get his memories back from Pitch and help the children maintain hope, wonder, and light. If every child stops believing in the Guardians, then the light of the world goes out. If that happens, then only fear and darkness will be left.

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS is a very entertaining, well-made family movie. With incredible animation, the quality is superb. The storyline is clear with many funny moments, tearful moments and exciting moments. Some of the dark elements from the villain may be scary for very young children.

The main characters in RISE OF THE GUARDIANS are holiday icons, such as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, etc. In this case, however, the characters are broken and just serve “The Man on the Moon.” “The Man on the Moon” is an unseen character, but the others look up to the moon and ask for guidance in order to bring hope to the world, almost in a prayer fashion. The Man on the Moon chooses the Guardians from ordinary people and gives purpose and meaning to their lives. The Guardians aren’t invincible, but they help fight for the light. Finally, there is an emphasis on the importance of believing in these characters.

Of course, children should be taught to believe in the Truth, who is Jesus Christ. Believing in fictional characters can lead to disappointment and cognitive rejection of the Truth. So, media wise parents need to take time to explain the Truth of Jesus Christ and the fictional nature of fairytale characters before and after going to any fairytale movie.

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Rise Of The Ronin Review

Platform: PS5 After years of fans clamouring for an Assassin's Creed entry set in feudal Japan, Ubisoft finally confirmed its stealth-action series would indeed be headed Far East for its next entry. And while the highly anticipated project is due to put players behind a throat-slitting samurai early next year, Rise of the Ronin may have stolen some of its katana-wielding thunder.

Team Ninja's PlayStation 5 exclusive is an open-world, samurai action-role-playing game that'll immediately feel familiar to anyone who's strategically sliced, diced, dodged, and countered their way through the studio's more recent efforts, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and the Nioh series. Similar to those entries, Rise of the Ronin is a combat-heavy affair that finds you regularly engaged in punishing, yet satisfying encounters that reward skill and thoughtfulness over mindless button-mashing.

But outside of the frequent blade ballets, the title recalls Ubisoft's open-world formula as much as Team Ninja's tried-and-true template — for better, but sometimes worse. On the plus side, Rise of the Ronin borrows from Assassin's Creed 's use of historical settings, characters, and stories. Set in 19th-century Japan, it takes place in Edo, Kyoto, and Yokohama, across nearly two decades. Tackling this historically rich time and place is a tall order, but the game mostly pulls it off, balancing real-world elements with the more fun, fictionalised stuff you won't find in textbooks.

A combat-heavy affair that finds you regularly engaged in punishing, yet satisfying encounters that reward skill and thoughtfulness over mindless button-mashing.

Much of the latter spawns from the many ways in which you can mould the story, from choosing which allies to back and factions to join, to making critical decisions that'll potentially change the course of history. But while the massive world — and the myriad interactions within it — breed these narrative-enhancing connections, the bloated map can also bury the story. In offering a fully explorable world, packed with content, the game is almost too generous, pulling you every which way for collectibles, side activities, mini-games, and countless other distractions that threaten to break the immersion.

The game's many upgrade paths and character progression features, including a particularly tedious loot system, similarly suffer from feeling superfluous. Of course, it's difficult to fault the game for being overstuffed when its bells-and-whistles approach also fuels a brilliant, feline-fetching meta game — you can not only pet and collect the cats in Rise of the Ronin , but also send your furry friends on reward-yielding missions.

While we wish Rise of the Ronin had used its sharp blades to trim some of the fat, the game builds on the rewarding combat established in Team Ninja's previous few entries and is a worthy open-world romp that'll easily hold your attention until Ubisoft's samurai assassin arrives.

Come for Nicolas Cage, but stay for the coming of age and horrible monsters in 'Arcadian'

“Arcadian” doesn’t quite employ a bait-and-switch technique, but it does draw you in with one thing and then keep you there with another.

Nicolas Cage in a film about a dystopian future in which hideous monsters come out at night to kill anyone they can find? Sure! And this is indeed what we get with “Arcadian,” director Benjamin Brewer’s moody, atmospheric and entertaining horror movie. But it’s a muted Cage, a far cry from his scenery-obliterating madness as Dracula in “Renfield.”

And he’s only part of the bargain. What we really get are outstanding performances from Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins as twin brothers, performances that more or less take over the movie, keeping one foot squarely in the horror camp while allowing for some effective coming-of-age drama, as well. Delicious and nutritious! If either of those things can apply to hairy monsters with extendable extremities, who snap their jaws open and shut at a blurry speed right before they munch on your head.

I liked it.

What is 'Arcadian' about?

A prologue finds Paul (Cage) running through an unnamed, crumbling city where all manner of apocalyptic things are happening around him — explosions, ominous public-address announcements and him sprinting through alleys and back streets to the twin infants he’s stashed away.

They’re his sons. We catch up with them 15 years later, when Joseph (Martell) and Thomas (Jenkins) are living in a dilapidated farmhouse in the country somewhere. The decor is what you might call “Night of the Living Dead” protective — as night falls, they work together to secure the doors and windows. Then they settle down to a candlelight dinner, trying to put everything in a frame of normalcy — and for them, this is normal.

Then the noises start. Knocks turn into pounding, pounding so strong it seems the doors won’t hold. They do, but only barely. When Paul inspects the deep scratches carved into the wood the next morning, it’s clear that heavy reinforcement is a must.

At dinner and elsewhere, it becomes clear there is tension between the boys. Joseph is brainy (Paul believes he’s a genius); while Paul and Thomas rush to barricade the doors, he times the banging, looking for clues in the intervals. Thomas is more practical (see rush the barricades, above). During the day, he comes up with daily excuses to visit a nearby farm where Charlotte (Sadie Soverall, also excellent) lives. Their mutual crush — and a 10-second hug that is adorable — leads to Thomas having to rush home; he falls into a cave he can’t get out of, which sets the stage for the real horror.

Brewer is smart about how he deploys the monsters. At first, they’re an idea, more the catalyst for an all-encompassing sense of dread. There’s the “Jaws” school of horror, where lack of money and malfunctioning equipment forced Steven Spielberg to mete out glimpses of the shark , and the film was far more effective for it. Brewer follows a somewhat similar path with “Arcadian,” and like “Jaws,” it makes the payoff all the better.

'Arcadian' is not just a Nicolas Cage movie

On the coming-of-age front, Brewer, working from a script by Michael Nilon, keeps things refreshingly cringe-free. There is a great scene in which Thomas and Charlotte share a first kiss. Her father catches them and angrily sends Charlotte out of the room. When they’re gone, the fear on Thomas’ face morphs into a sly smile. Forget the monsters, forget the angry dad. He’s happy, if only briefly.

The relationship between Thomas and Joseph is similarly well constructed. They’re competitive, and they’re sick of each other, and, like everyone else, they’re constantly on edge. There are horrors in the night, and they inform every aspect of life. The way their lives play out together seems perfectly realistic, given the circumstances.

One more note: At some point in any good horror movie, things need to feel overwhelming, as if there is no escape. There’s some of that here. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the monsters have a mode of travel unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a movie. I laughed out loud, more in appreciation than anything else. Brewer goes for broke and it pays off.

As does most of what’s in “Arcadian.” It’s not trying to make a grand statement about the world, at least not any more than movies like this do (any post-apocalyptic film at least implies things didn’t work out for us). But it is trying to scare you, and it does.

'Arcadian' 4 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Benjamin Brewer.

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins.

Rating: R for bloody images.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, April 12.

Reach Goodykoontz at   [email protected] . Facebook:   facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm . X:   @goodyk . Subscribe to   the weekly movies newsletter .

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The First Omen review – stylish horror prequel is damned by its franchise

This 70s-set prelude to the classic satanic horror has flair but struggles with the weight and familiarity of what came before

W e didn’t need a prequel to landmark 1976 horror The Omen but we’d have been foolish not to expect one. The major genre films of that era – Halloween, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, Suspiria – have all seen a new round of remakes, reboots and remixes in the last few years – some tolerable, most not – and so another Damien chapter is as inevitable as the rise of Damien himself.

It’s not the first time anyone has tried either. After the series sputtered out in 1991 with the cheapo gender-swapped TV movie Omen IV: The Awakening, the films went the way of most horror during that decade and it took until 2006, a time of anything-goes, mostly gutter-level remakes, for the sixes to align once again. It was a slickly made yet utterly soulless retread (released on 6 June of course) and it took another decade for the obvious small-screen demotion, with one-season dud Damien, following the problem child as he became a problem adult. Now we’re going way back to where it all began with The First Omen, announced back in 2016 with Christine’s Antonio Campos intriguingly attached, and now arriving without him but with the question that we ask ourselves every time Hollywood double dips: do we really need to be back here?

Surprisingly, it seems for a while that we actually maybe do? Crafted with more flair and written with more thought than the majority of studio horror films are at this current rotten moment, The First Omen charges out of the gate to rise above an admittedly low bar with all the confidence of an original. Like the bold, backwards trailer that’s being used to promote it, it’s far more artful and striking than it has any right to be, thanks in overwhelmingly large part to the TV director Arkasha Stevenson, whose bravado works incredibly well until it really doesn’t, when she’s forced to play by franchise rules rather than her own.

The story takes us back to 1971 as bright-eyed American Margaret (the Game of Thrones alum Nell Tiger Free) lands in Rome to begin a life of religious service. She’s immediately in awe of her idyllic surroundings and prepared to give herself to her god but there’s something awry. Margaret has noticed an othering of one of the girls, whose visions remind her of those she used to have, and the further she investigates what might be going on, the more she realises that something unholy is at play.

Given that most of us know of where and how Richard Donner’s original begins, it’s clear that a baby is on the way and right from a ghoulish early scene, Stevenson effectively maximises the body horror of childbirth. She has a keen eye for the grotesque, knowing how to burrow her way under the skin and pushes up against the limits of how far we expect a mainstream film such as this to go (there’s an effectively unsettling Possession homage that is one of many images that shall linger). It’s not all gory provocation though with her script, co-written by Tim Smith and Keith Thomas (almost making up for his hideous Firestarter remake), cleverly finding a new way into the old story and unlike so many other horror films about the devil, it’s not as shamelessly evangelical as we’ve come to expect (there’s a reason why the God-fearing Conjuring movies made so much money in the US). Religious fanaticism is as much of a danger as satanism here, a prodding throughline that puts the film into an interesting conversation with last month’s other nun-led horror Immaculate , also laying blame at the foot of the cross.

The Omen was released at a time when studio horror films were just as extravagant and cinematic as any other genre and Stevenson has followed in that tradition over much of the artless tack of today, her film as sumptuous and specific with its 70s recreation as any prestige-y drama might be. But it’s when the shadow of that film truly comes into view that things go downhill in a last act of obvious reveals and clumsy pretzeling, a film somewhat of its own forced to align itself with a franchise. It’s a messy bow on top of an otherwise pristinely wrapped gift, the final scene so distractingly bad it feels like the result of test audience meddling one can almost sense the moment that Stevenson handed back reins to the studio. The conclusion suggests that it may not be the last Omen but I’m far more interested to see what Stevenson can do next instead, allowed to fully step out of the shadow of what came before.

The First Omen is out in cinemas on 5 April

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