Rating of
3.5/4
An Excellent Fantasy Film
JLFM - wrote on 06/15/13
I guess I should make it understood before I start this review that I am not a fan of Dreamworks Animation. Most of their films just seem like products to me, and there seems to be little creativity going into them. With that being said, it delights me to say that Rise of the Guardians is an excellent film that far surpassed my low expectations.
The plot, for the most part, is relatively simple. Jack Frost is tired of not being believed in, but gets his chance to be seen and adored when Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman call upon Frost to help overcome the dastardly Pitch.
I wanted to dislike this film. The trailers and commercials made this film look exactly the same as everything else Dreamworks has done. And yet, as I continued to watch, I found myself chuckling at a few of the lines. Then laughing. It wasn't long until I was completely engaged with the story and characters, and by the time the film came to a close, I was actually kind of sad it was over.
Let me make this clear; this is not at all like a normal Dreamworks film. The humor is sharper, the story is stronger, the characters are...well they're an improvement anyway. Perhaps most notably, humor does not seem to be the main focus of this film. Granted, this is still a very funny film, but there seems to be a lot more emphasis on the story. Yup, you read that right: A Dreamworks film is actually putting emphasis on the STORY. Not the jokes!
The story itself is made up of familiar elements, but still feels new. It's a crazy blend of The Avengers, Arthur Christmas, How to Train Your Dragon and The Nightmare Before Christmas. And yet, it works. Heck, I was even pretty moved during a few scenes near-ish to the end. Since when is a Dreamworks film moving?
The characters are something of a mixed bag. The five guardians (Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and Jack Frost) are all meant to be a bit different than the mythical beings you grew up believing in. Santa's a big Russian dude, the Easter Bunny is a fearless Australian, etc. The problem is that not all of the changes make sense. The two I just mentioned for instance. Why is Santa Russian? Why is the Easter Bunny Australian? I don't really understand the connection, nor the humor in this change.
The Tooth Fairy is a fast-talking, tooth-obsessed fairy. All right, I'll buy that. The Sandman doesn't talk, but communicates through gestures and images made from sand. Okay, that makes sense. Jack Frost is a semi-rebellious, slightly cocky teenager. Not particularly original or interesting, but I can see that. But Santa as a Russian and the Easter Bunny as an Australian doesn't make much sense.
And then there's the villain. Pitch is certainly menacing, and he has a good motive, but he just isn't very interesting. He's not funny, his character design is completely bland, and he doesn't do enough to separate himself from any other animated villain. That's a shame, because he wasn't that far away from being a pretty memorable character. Alas, he still suffices.
Despite the fact that I don't love some of the twists on the guardians, it's still a joy to see them together. The best scenes involve them all interacting with each other. One particularly fun scene involves all five guardians helping the Tooth Fairy collect teeth from under children's pillows. We get to see these characters competing and teasing each other, and it's really fun.
I think what really makes this film work, though, is balance. There's a perfect amount of emphasis on story, humor, character interaction, etc. There's never too much attention on one aspect of the film. Dreamworks is prone to struggling when it comes to balance. Films like Madgascar had too much emphasis on humor. Films like Kung Fu Panda 2 had too much emphasis on story. And films like Over the Hedge had too much emphasis on characters.
In Rise of the Guardians, Dreamworks seems to finally understand that their humor, story, and characters can't work by themselves. By giving the proper balance to each aspect of the film, Dreamworks made this film work.
The voice acting varies in terms of quality. I generally dislike using adults to voice children and teens, so it shouldn't be too surprising that I did not enjoy Chris Pine as Jack Frost. And Hugh Jackman as the Easter Bunny isn't especially great. But Alec Baldwin as Santa Claus and Isla Fisher as the Tooth Fairy are excellent, and Jude Law lends a unique voice to the villain.
The animation is very nice, though not quite as jaw-dropping as what we've come to expect from Disney or Pixar. The score, by Alexandre Desplat, is simply incredible. It's outrageously fun, and gives an appropriate sense of wonder when it needs to.
Rise of the Guardians isn't perfect, and doesn't have the same polish as a Disney or Pixar film, but I still loved it. It's a shame the film did so poorly at box office, because it's a very fun, and certainly magical movie. Perhaps Dreamworks has finally matured into a studio capable of entertaining all ages, and not just kids. I may not have been very kind to Dreamworks in the past, but this film has convinced me that they are capable of excellent entertainment.
