Movie Review: Rise of the Guardians (3D)

Thanks to UIP Singapore, I caught the preview for the latest Dreamworks animation, Rise of the Guardians on Mon (19 Nov) in 3D at The Cathay.

The production artists behing this movie must had a lot of fun designing the characters. I really like the concept of banding together a group of festive characters and redesigning them into superheroes. I was so inspired after watching the movie that I felt like picking up my pencils again and redesign my own set of festive characters!

The movie has a simple storyline of good versus evil, but with a broad overarching theme on the importance for children to keep their innocence and curiosity for the world.

Kids would love this movie, as evidenced by the loud laughter I heard in the cinema hall, coming from small children.

For me, I was more impressed and intrigued by the festive characters’ redesigns more so than the storyline.

I particularly like the Sandman who is the only non-speaking character, adding an air of mystery. Jack Frost is extremely handsome and will be a crowd pleaser for female audience.

Santa is a little too rugged for my liking, but an interesting twist to a character that has been featured in so many literature and movies.

Easter Bunny looks like a kangaroo, probably deliberate as he speaks with an Australian accent and uses the boomerang as weapons. Like Santa, this offers an interesting twist from the norm.

The Tooth Fairy’s design was a little overdone in my opinion. More is not always better.

The villain, Pitch the Bogeyman was a little too colourless and one-dimensional in his evilness. A pity really as he is the only bad guy in the entire movie and is quintessential to the story development.

Overall, I would recommend this movie for family with kids, otakus, graphic designers and anyone interested in character designs.

Rise of the Guardians will be showing in Singapore cinemas from tomorrow (22 Nov). Go catch it. 🙂

Characters Introduction:

You probably know North as Santa Claus, but he is not the typical jolly character with which you are familiar. North is a former Russian Cossack warrior with “naughty” tattooed on one arm and “nice” on the other. Fierce, demanding, and impulsive, North sees everything. And everything about him is larger than life. If North believes in a cause, nothing anyone can say or do can stop him.

Bunnymund, as he’s known, is a cool calm Australian, as dry as the Outback. A natural ranger, he is an in the dirt, rough and tumble protector of nature. He follows nature’s rhythms and when it’s time for action he waits for the perfect moment to act. And when he finally does, it’s all over in a heartbeat. Bunny is completely unflappable. The only thing that does get under his skin is North’s constant ribbing about how Christmas is more important than Easter.

Tooth is half-human and half-hummingbird. She is a beautiful, elegant, blue and green iridescent creature. She is full of energy and always in motion, her feet never touching the ground. She expresses a wide array of emotion through her feathers and tail. Everyone knows that the Tooth Fairy collects kids’ teeth from under their pillow; but what you don’t know is that the teeth hold the most precious childhood memories. Tooth safeguards these teeth in her palace hidden for when you most need those memories later in life.

Sandman is the architect and bringer of good dreams. And he’s mute. He communicates through expressive sand images that he conjures over his head. He is a one man Greek chorus. He offers some of the comedic relief but there is also an ancient and wise element to his character. At pivotal moments he can be used as a kind of secret weapon — he’s the one who shows the other Guardians what is really important.

Jack Frost is a supernatural being much like the Guardians. But unlike the others he is a loner, the classic rebel without a cause. He too is immortal, eternally young, charismatic, and smart. He has incredible weather powers that he controls with the help of his magical staff; he can call the wind, storms, cold and snow. He rides the wind like an Olympic snowboarder. He is the spirit of mischief and chaos personified and has yet to harness his full potential.

Pitch is the Boogeyman that hides under your bed and is the reason you are afraid of the dark. He lives in an underground lair which is an evil mirror of the Guardians’ kingdoms. He has had to endure generations of parents tell their children to not believe in him while the Guardians get all the acclaim. Pitch has decided to change all that. He has devised a plan to get people to believe in him instead of the Guardians. He is going to systematically take out each of the Guardians and what they represent one-by-one until there will be nothing left but fear.

Synopsis:

More than a collection of our beloved childhood legends, “The Guardians” are a group of heroes- each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit know as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to dispel our most cherished beliefs, the immortal Guardians must join force for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and the imagination that lives with us all.

In order to overcome Pitch, the Guardians must also convince Jack Frost to join their ranks, as Pitch’s campaign of fear & darkness threatens to envelop the world.