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Friday, January 22, 2016

Family Movie Night: Rise of the Guardians

Title: Rise of the Guardians
Director: Peter Ramsey
Original Release: 2012
Choice: Purple Penguin's
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5
via Wikipedia
In Rise of the Guardians, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are not only real.  They have their own Justice League-like team along with the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman.  The Man in the Moon is the Charlie to their Angels.  The Man warns them of a new threat to the children of the world from Pitch Black, aka the Boogeyman.  But he has also recruited a new Guardian to help: Jack Frost, the story's protagonist.

I'm a sucker for stories of holiday worlds come to life.  Sometimes, in my mind, I plan mini film festivals and Rise of the Guardians would combine nicely with The Nightmare Before Christmas, Arthur Christmas and perhaps even Elf.  That is not to say it's strictly a Christmas movie, though it could serve.  Ultimately, it is a tale about protecting the innocence of youth by defending children's imagination.  I'm all for that.

The voice cast is excellent.  Chris Pine is Jack, the reluctant hero of the gang.  Jude Law does well as the villain.  Alec Baldwin (Santa), Hugh Jackman (Bunny) and Isla Fisher (Tooth) are all strong.  While reasonably successful critically, the film did not do so well at the box office.  While $306 million worldwide certainly seems like a huge load of cash, the movie lost money against its production and marketing budgets.  We certainly enjoyed it at our house.
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11 comments:

  1. Andrew LeonJanuary 22, 2016 at 1:06 PM

    I was a bit underwhelmed with this one mostly because there was nothing new in it. I've seen this plot I don't know how many times. And, well, the title is dumb and unrelated to the movie other than that they wanted to use the word "guardian."
    None of which is to say that it wasn't well done and enjoyable to watch, as far as that goes.

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    1. The Armchair SquidJanuary 23, 2016 at 10:31 AM

      Well, they refer to themselves as guardians and they're guarding different virtues of innocence: hope, wonder, dreams, memories and fun.

      Delete
  2. Tony LaplumeJanuary 22, 2016 at 1:59 PM

    I was impressed with this movie. It was kind of like Shrek in how it subverts animated film conventions and attempts to go deeper than even all those heartfelt Pixar flicks.

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    1. Tony LaplumeJanuary 22, 2016 at 2:04 PM

      If anyone wants a precursor to Frozen, it isn't Tangled, but Rise of the Guardians. Just realized that.

      Delete
    2. The Armchair SquidJanuary 23, 2016 at 10:32 AM

      Interesting perspective. I haven't seen Tangled, though from what I know, I wonder if it might pair better with Maleficent.

      Delete
  3. BirgitJanuary 22, 2016 at 2:00 PM

    I got this film as a gift for Christmas and watched it and found it enchanting. It was a really nice fairy tale and I loved the animation also. My only question is...who was Jack Frost before this teen became Jack Frost? I have to admit Alec Baldwin did a great job as a Russian Santa even though Santa would be Canadian:)

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    1. The Armchair SquidJanuary 23, 2016 at 10:35 AM

      You know, I wondered the same thing. Is there any assurance these characters - or at least the beings embodying them - are immortal. Perhaps something happened to the preceding Jack.

      Someone in the creative department was a big time Russophile: the onion domes, the nesting dolls, Santa swearing via composer names, etc.

      Delete
  4. sageJanuary 22, 2016 at 3:13 PM

    Sounds interesting but I haven't seen it.

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  5. DMSJanuary 22, 2016 at 10:42 PM

    It is amazing that what seems like a huge load of money, can really be considered a loss!

    I haven't seen this one, but I do remember hearing about it. It sounds great! Thanks for sharing. :)
    ~Jess

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