Saturday, November 16, 2013
Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Cast: Chris Pine, Alec
Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fischer, and Hugh Jackman
Director: Peter Ramsey
Synopsis: Chris Pine stars
in this lively animated tale based off the book The Guardians of Childhood by William Joyce. In this adaptation,
Jack Frost joins Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the Sandman, and the tooth
fairy to defeat the bogeyman that threatens to destroy the imagination of
children everywhere. Along the way, Jack questions his identity and finds his
purpose as a guardian of children.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3/5 reels
Review:
Peter Ramsey unites classic characters in this fun-filled movie. Jack,
North, Tooth, Sandman, and Bunny bring to life the characters that have filled
legends and stories for the past century.
This film was a great family movie that kept you entertained while
maintaining clean humor and fun plot twists. Ramsey did an excellent job of
including one-liners that kept the adult audience laughing, but at their
wittiness instead of their crudeness that is often found in other movies.
This all-star cast did an excellent job providing the voices for their
characters. Although there were several points in the film where Alec Baldwin
slipped out of his Russian accent for the voice of “North,” I think it may be
in part to the writing of the script itself and not the fault of the actor. The
accented voice of Hugh Jackman also adds a great element to the character of
“Bunny” who is often referred to as a kangaroo because of his Austalian accent.
Although the film had it’s great moments, the majority of the time the
plot was predictable and the script was dry. There were few moments in the
storyline that you weren’t expecting as you followed the arch. I feel this is
almost to be expected of a film geared toward children, but nonetheless I was
left disappointed. The script writing also left something to be desired,
several times I felt that the writers could have added powerful dialogue
between the characters, but instead most of the film is single sentence
replies.
Despite some of its shortcomings, Rise
of the Guardians is a great family film that will put a smile on your face.
By Emily Johnson
