Rise of the Guardians

Santa with a Russian accent and swords and the Easter bunny who is a snarky punk are not the usual take on some favorite childhood icons. The 3D computer animated adventure is based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series has a screenplay written by David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by Peter Ramsey. Originally Joyce and Reel FX created a short animated film called The Man in the Moon, which served as an inspiration to the Guardians. Rise of the Guardians is an entertaining and refreshing story on the innocence belief of children and what happens when they lose those precious moments.

Jack Frost (Chris Pine) doesn't remember how he came to be, only that he woke up rising from a frozen pond and he has the ability to fly around and make ice crystals. None of the children see him, but he's able to manipulate their snowtime activities and bring winter wherever he goes. He loves his carefree existence, but it's a bit lonely. That is until he meets Santa (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and the Sandman who doesn't speak. The Boogeyman (Jude Law) aka Pitch Black wants to move into the territory. The Man in the Moon suggests to Santa to recruit Jack Frost. Santa aka “North” is not your typical Kris Kringle in Coca Cola commercials. North is a sword wielding tattooed brawler who has Yeti's making toys. He just lets them think they are making the toys because who's to tell a Yeti they can't? The tiny minion sized elves actually do all the work. Bunnymund, the Easter bunny, is a smart mouthed punk with an Australian accent. Tooth is a giddy, talkative fairy who is assisted by mini fairies who collect childrens teeth that hold their special memories. Sandy who helps children sleep, may not speak, but he's able to weave sand pictures to communicate. Together they form a childhood superhero league to battle Pitch who wants to engulf the world in darkness by taking away childrens ability to dream. Without a child's fantasy world, the fab five lose their powers and may cease to exist.

Somewhere along the way to adulthood children lose their belief in those folklore tales. It's almost regrettable when they say “Santa's not real”. It's that loss of innocence that adults take for granted. When the lights on Santa/North's map blink out as the children become more dour and depressed you expect Peter Pan to show up urging children to sustain her. Jack in turn tries to turn the tables on Pitch by keeping the one remaining child, Jamie (Dakota Goyo), who has not given up on the Guardians. There's a battle between the Guardians and Pitch's team of black smoky horses that looks like the Lord of the Rings running down the elf princess. That's the only scary part for the kids. The rest of the story is light, the animation and colors worked well with the 3D, and it's a movie that parents won't fall asleep when they take their kids. A good holiday choice.
(Review by reesa)