RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (Theatrical Release USA 2012)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.0|5.0 Starsììì

Rise of the Guardians—superb animation, imaginative characterization—suffers from a complicated, difficult-to-interpret storyline as well as too many characters to track well. For viewers who are not familiar with Jack Frost, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Man in the Moon, and Pitch Black, confusion unavoidably descends and severely impacts entertainment value.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

The Man in the Moon tells Jack Frost (voice of Chris Pine), after he awakes from a state of amnesia, his true identity. The Man in the Moon warns North aka Santa Claus (voice of Alec Baldwin) that Pitch Black aka the Boogey Man (voice of Jude Law) is back and wreaking havoc in the world. The Man in the Moon tells North that Jack Frost will be added to the group as another ‘guardian’ and will help the current guardians—North, E. Aster Bunnymund aka the Easter Bunny (voice of Hugh Jackman), Sandy aka the Sandman (no script lines), and Tooth aka the Tooth Fairy (voice of Isla Fisher)—in taking down Pitch Black once and for all.

Additional Thanks

Good Work For Director Peter Ramsey. Thank you to Executive Producers Guillermo del Toro. William Joyce, and Michael Siegel for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Jamie Bennett (voice of Dakota Goyo), Caleb (voice of Khamani Griffin), Claude (Kamil McFadden), Sophie Bennett (voice of Georgie Grieves), Jamie’s Mom/Jack’s Mother (voice of Emily Nordwind), and Monty (voice of Jacob Bertrand).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

No. The characters are confusing for the younger child and the story-line suffers from lack of coherency.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers