Rise of the Guardians: Easter Christmas for Everyone! (Review)

Rise of the Guardians is a film that is very enjoyable. Although, I found myself having a difficult time really coming up with something interesting to say about it. I mean, I like it a lot actually. It’s just one of those films where it wouldn’t be too hard to convince me that you didn’t like it. I figured I would try another format, and review more specific things about it rather than the normal/ordinary review you would usually come across.

Overall, the imagination that went into creating the world that we see in Rise of the Guardians is unbelievable. Was it always executed to perfection? No, unfortunately it wasn’t. There are a lot of gags, and some fun to be had, but there is also a dark story waiting in the background that at times overshadows what makes the film enjoyable.

Meet the Guardians

Santa (Alec Baldwin) – He has a Russian accent, and tattoos which make him a little cooler version of Santa. I thought Alec Baldwin was pretty good as usual. Although I don’t know the point of having him use a Russian accent, but I’ll buy it. Santa always felt like the leader of the group, but he may be the least effective. Either that or they just didn’t involve him as much. His elves, yetis, and the North Pole were all very fun and inviting and left me wanting a little more of each.

The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) – The Tooth Fairy’s animation is very beautiful, and her tiny helpers are important to the overall story. Not a lot to say other than she is a lot more important to the overall story than any of the trailers let on.

The Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) – In the film Easter is the next holiday coming up, and it’s important for The Guardians to protect all the children’s belief in both the holiday and the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny is pretty great. He travels by teleporting through rabbit holes. He’s kind of a jerk, but you know the kind of jerk that makes you like him. I think it’s because he’s a bunny, and it’s really hard to hate a bunny. Jackman is excellent, and it especially works when he’s going back and forth with Jack Frost.

The Sandman – The Sandman is silent. He’s deadly. He’s awesome. There’s even a nod to Charlie Chaplan. You will love this character.

Jack Frost (Chris Pine) – Normally, I don’t really care who voices a character in an animated film. In Rise of the Guardians I feel like the voice cast actually lifted the entire film up a few notches. This was not more apparent than in Jack Frost. You will figure out in the first few seconds of the film that this is the Jack Frost story. If it weren’t for Chris Pine I don’t know if I would have cared much for Jack Frost. His sarcastic war of words with Jackman’s Easter Bunny is one of my favorite things about the entire film. I caught myself laughing like Billy Madison does while the kids have no idea what’s so funny.

The Bad Guy

Pitch Black (Jude Law) – I love Jude Law. I think he’s great, but this role falls into the category where he’s good, but you could have gotten another British actor and I wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Something about Pitch just never hit with me, and I never felt like he was a menacing antagonist as much as the internal conflict going on inside of Jack Frost.

How’s the animation?
If I went by the trailers I would have told you that the animation was sub-par. When compared to Pixar or Dreamworks’ other properties like How to Train Your Dragon it didn’t feel like it was going to hold up. Once the film started, I really started to develop a feel for what the animators were going for. I don’t know if I can think of a film that had animation that doesn’t work out of context the way this film does. I thought the animation was very almost whimsical. It was quite colorful, and I think it fit the look and feel of the mythological characters. I especially think that the animation of the Easter Bunny’s world, and anything to do with the Sandman were pretty spectacular. The thing I didn’t love was the look of Jack Frost and Pitch. Something just never felt right about their looks compared to the others.

Is Rise of the Guardians for the little one?

It has moments of cuteness like Santa’s elves and the Yetis (who I thought were underutilized). The Tooth Fairy and her helpers were my kids’ favorites. It’s a fun and very imaginative adventure that promotes believing in something that keeps hopes and dreams alive. The whole arc of Jack Frost is at times a little depressing, and too adult. It’s nice for us, but I can see children fidgeting at all the developing back story stuff. Even at its darkest moments the film only hints at the worst possible scenarios and leaves parents free and clear to take your fingers off the “pause” button.