When I first seen previews and advertisements for this film, I was very excited to see it. I was expecting to get a really mature, story driven, beautifully animated, and original animated family classic. And...that's exactly what I got a really mature, story driven, beautifully animated, and original animated family classic, aside from the usual pop culture referencing, pop song playing, and getting a celebrity voice for the sake being a popular celebrity type of animated movie that Dreamworks does most of the time. But there are other really good Dreamworks movies that I admire such as The Prince of Egypt (even though that is traditionally animated), both Kung Fu Panda movies, and How To Train Your Dragon, simply because those are the ones that actually treat its audience, mostly children with respect and they give them the allowance to watch a plot driven movie, because no matter how young all children deserve that as much as adults. And this movie ranks it up there with the others.
First it is important for me to talk about the characters of the movie. We have the main protagonist Jack Frost. In many adaptation, stories, and Christmas Specials, Jack Frost has been depicted as a mischievous, conniving, and careless icon. In most cases he is depicted as an antagonist. Even in The Santa Clause 3,with Tim Allen, he is depicted as a villain. Like with a lot of the other characters within the film, Frost is given an original treatment and take by this film depicting him as a teenager of some sorts, and also a curious wanderer. Yes he is rebellious and mischievous, but he also is very determined, friendly, fun, childlike as he likes to make children have fun, has a good heart and a sense of justice as the film progresses. He also desperately wants to know more about himself even to the point where he is gullible to get the information, but not because he is selfish. The voice acting could have been just generic as Chris Pine's voice is obviously being heard, but Pine puts a lot of emotion and belief into it that he actually gives a plausible voice performance as if he were acting in a live-action film. But even for voice performance, actors still need to give it their all as if was live acting. Santa Claus, often referred to as North in the film, is always depicted as a heavy and jolly old man with a white beard and red suit and cap. In this movie he is a tough, big, dynamic, courageous, but still yet kooky man with a rough exterior. He even has two tattoos, one on each arm that says "Naughty" and "Nice, and he also speaks with a Russian accent. Some may complain that he might be too intimidating especially for younger children, but excuse me for being a little unprofessional but I think it's kind of awesome! My personal view of Santa Claus, even as a small child, has always been like how the character is presented in this movie, the thought of this big, rough, rowdy, dynamic, kind of gritty, intimidating, but yet kind and jolly man. This is probably, in my opinion, one of the best and original interpretations of Santa Claus. He is also, very important to consider, a highly likeable character and he even himself in the film states that he might have a rough exterior but he very soft on the inside and the film greatly proves that. He is very optimistic, jolly as always, loud, filled with wonder, childlike, bold, courageous, wise, and not too mention kooky. He is also a leader and a great one at that too as he is mostly childlike at times but he knows how to be heroic and bold, giving him the type of personality for anyone to follow his leadership in a heartbeat. Plus, Alec Baldwin does a very superb job giving this character's voice. You would think by doing a Russian accent, it would have been abused to death and probably would have been a way to take people right out of the film and not take it seriously, especially considering the fact that Alec Baldwin does not even speak like how he does in the film. But Baldwin does allow some subtlety to the voice to make even the serious and dramatic scenes wit St. Nick plausible. Next we have the Easter Bunny. This is an Australian bunny by the ways who is cool, witty, brave, and quick. He has doubt in Jack Frost at first, but then their friendship gradually develops in a decent pace. There is also a good and dramatic scene where the Easter Bunny shows his vulnerable and weakened side which is also a good example of the tremendous voice acting in this film. I do not know why they decided character was Australian, maybe because Hugh Jackman himself is Australian, but the only reason I could think of is the add some "coolness factor" to the character...which does work seeing how they do not abuse and they make the character likeable and three-dimensional instead of using him as a tool. The Tooth Fairy is also a good character. I like that her design has some humming bird qualities to it. Why this interpretation I do not know, but I credit it for being an original take on the character plus it works to its advantage as providing a vehicle to the character's personality. She is quick, fast-paced, hyperactive, and is good at multitasking. She also has these little minion fairies which are also like hummingbirds, which I have to admit is kind of a cute concept how The Tooth Fairy uses these little fairies to gather the tooth of children. The other Guardian is the Sandman, who despite being a mute, also comes across as being a decent cinematic character. Not only is he charmingly whimsical, funny, and enchanting, but he also plays a very vital role within the film. In any other movie this character would have been portrayed no more than a cute comic relief but the development and weight of importance given to the character, especially because he plays a big role in the plot, grants him respect from the audience. Lastly, we have the main villain Pitch Black, The Bogeyman. I have not seen a villain so enjoying his villainy but yet comes across as very original and very strongly written as this character. He kind of reminds me of Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty, as they are both dark, villainous, conniving, and charismatic egos. He has the powers to turn dreams into nightmares and anything he touches becomes an essence of darkness. He is a lot of times over the top but at the same time there is a lot of development and depth to the character that at times he can be quite sympathetic. I just enjoyed the many tricks he can do with his powers such as disappearing and reappearing and becoming a shadow. Plus, I like the design of his hideout, which kind of looks like an Escher style world with upright and upside down staircases and hallways. He even tries to make a relationship with Jack Frost in order for them to eventually work together because at first, the villain actually admits he feels the main protagonist's frustration and confusion and feels that he can relate to him. It is probably one of the first time I have seen a villain be like this. Jude Law also does a great voice performance for the character as many of the actors do for their characters. All of them are just plausible.
The animation for this film is also very stunning to look at. From the very first shot and frame of the film I was absolutely blown away by it. The opening scene features Jack Frost rising from a frozen lake out of the water. I was absolutely stunned by the beautiful animation that was done during this opening scene that there was a moment Frost was gasping for air after he rose from the water and I gasped with him because the animation was so overwhelming too look at. I swear this was very Disney like standard. The animation for the rest of the film is pretty good too, there a lot of colors, mystic powers, and wondrous imagery that the animation takes advantage of in order for them too look wondrous and stunning.
The story, important to note, is very original and it keeps focus on giving these famous childhood icons interesting, original, and enjoyable personalities and having fun with these characters whether it would be for comedic, fun, and even sentimental and dramatic scenes. A lot of the characters are fleshed out and their development serves as building blocks for the overall plot of the film, so in fact their personalities and their individual goals serve purpose to the story. The only downside is that I would like to find out about more of these characters and their back stories. It was hinted at a lot of these characters had past lives and did some thing in their lives to make them these icons or Guardians. We get to know more about Jack Frost's character, but I was really interested to knowing about the others like Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, The Sandman, and Pitch. Though a lot of people know the origin of Santa Claus, I still would like to seen this movie's take on it. I felt like the film was probably 10-15 minutes to short as I felt that I wanted to learn more about these characters, their stories, why they feel that their jobs and motives are important. Their motives are explained well but yet briefly. But what the film was overall good at was being greatly satisfying. What you see is what you get and I was more than satisfied with what I got. Maybe wanting to learn more about the characters was a good thing, since from the get go I was very interested in and connected to them because of their plausibility.
Overall Rise of the Guardians is truly an imaginative and original movie that families deserve to watch. It had fun with the limitless imagination put within it and it helps give a new take on the stories and mythologies to these characters which in turn also helps the plot for this film as both the characters and the story are in perfect mix together. It is genuinely a gem in Dreamworks Animation's lineup.
GRADE: P+
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