"We are really busy
spreading joy to the children in this world; we have no time for…children," exclaims, Santa Claus, in the voice of Alec Baldwin summarising the message of
this Peter Ramsey film which is based on William Joyce’s book series The
Guardians of Childhood and The Man in the Moon, a short film by Joyce. Rise of
the Guardians is a fascinating re-interpretation of a children’s fable with a
super-hero twist, a delightful hybrid that makes it one of the better animated
films of this year.
Designed specifically
with one desired audience in mind, the film will appeal to children instantly.
That is fairly average for any animated film that shows Santa Claus, Sandman,
Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Jack Frost to be larger-than-life characters with
a superhero’s aura. However, the success of the film lies in connecting not
only to children but to the child in all of us. Incredibly humorous and mildly
emotional, at the right places of course, this film plays at some chords deep
within your heart, as it tells you to believe in the good and protect it
against all your fears.
The story begins when
Jack Frost, the spirit of winter, is called upon to join an elite group of
children’s mascots that protect the childhood and innocence. The Guardians,
which include St North (better known as Santa Claus), the Tooth Fairy, the
Sandman and the Easter Bunny, have a task at hand as the notorious Bogeyman is
back to wipe out all positivity and spread horror in the minds of all the
children in the world. Yes, like The Avengers. The Guardians, have to stop him,
failing which would lead children to stop believing in any of them. However,
unlike The Avengers, Rise of the Guardians has potential to end up becoming one
of those family favourites; anecdotes from which are cited at dinner tables and
get-togethers. Yes, like The Polar Express.
Although the film has
nothing exceptional, it has a heart of gold and characters that are too cute to
stay out of love with for long. Apart from a minor materialistic comment that
children require gifts and Easter eggs and toys to keep believing in the
miracle of Christmas; it has a simple sequence of events which leave you with a
pleasant feeling in the end. That being said, the emotionally overwhelming
moments in this DreamWorks’ film fall short of spreading across all the corners
of your heart, something which Pixar’s animations has a mastery in. The
creative visuals, the tiny details add value to the narrative which is like a
simple connect-the-dots puzzle that produces the image of a magnificent palace.
Chris Pine as Jack
Frost, Jude Law as the Bogeyman, Isla Fisher as Tooth Fairy, Hugh Jackman as
Easter Bunny and Alec Baldwin as North, have put their souls into their
respective characters; making the word ‘animation’ live up to its meaning of
‘bringing life to an inanimate object’. The casting is perfect so as to fit the
characterisation, so much so that the Easter Bunny with a boomerang sounds so
convincingly Australian that no one other than Hugh Jackman could have done
justice to it. A special mention has to be made about the character of Sandy,
the Sandman, which doesn’t say a word throughout the movie and is hence
unrepresented in the cast list. The character is adorable and exists only
digitally, but feels as real as the rest of them.
A film that will be
known for its spirit and remembered by its characters, Rise of the Guardians is
a welcome change for animation films in the future. The point this film has
made is that there are other ways than dishing out action figures of central
characters at fast food joints to make children remember it.
Rating - 3.5 out of 5
Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on December 23, 2012
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