<Review by: Daylynn DeSouza>

Directed by Peter Ramsey. Starring Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Chris Pine, Jude Law, Dakota Goyo

To be perfectly honest with you, if somebody told me to go watch a movie about Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, The Sandman and Jack Frost and their fight against the Boogieman… I’d tell them to go back home and get back to their ‘herbal’ cigarettes and Harold & Kumar marathons. I would however then be missing out on one of the best animated movies of this year. The others being Brave and Wreck-It Ralph.

If you’ve seen the trailers, you already know that the visuals in this movie are stunning and some would even say magical, but what you don’t know however is that the 3D in this movie is surprisingly good. Let me be clear. I hate 3D; I think it’s a cheap gimmick people use to sell films that have a bad story… But, I was impressed by the 3D: it was crisp and best of all, unlike other movies everything doesn’t get so dark that you can’t see anything when it’s night or someone is in a dark place. Even though the 3D is pretty good, it doesn’t always add to the experience but when it does… it’s worth it.

Each of the characters in Rise of the Guardians has a unique environment they call home and they each have their own quirks, like Santa being Russian, the Sandman being mute and the Easter Bunny being Australian. I have to say that on a personal note my favourite revamp of these classic legends have to be Santa and the Sandman. Santa is all badass, yet still jolly and Sandy is just plain adorable but simultaneously badass too.

Without any further comments on the visuals let’s get into the story. This movie is based upon the book Guardians of Childhood by William Joyce, as well as the Man in the Moon short film (watch it below) by Joyce and Reel FX, and it centres around the main protagonist of the movie, Jack Frost. Jack has no memory of his life before he was Jack Frost. The only reason he knows his name is because the Man in the Moon told him so. (See what I mean about the ‘herbal’ cigarettes? Honestly, there really isn’t anyway to tell you exactly what happens without sounding crazy.) He is invisible to people around him, unless they believe in him like they do Santa, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

When Pitch Black a.k.a The Boogieman makes somewhat of an appearance in Santa’s workshop – where Yeti’s make the toys instead of elves – Santa summons the Guardians and when they all convene the Man in the Moon tells them that they need another Guardian: Jack Frost. It’s upto Jack now to help the Guardians defeat Pitch while trying to find out who he was before his magical transformation and what his purpose in the world is. I honestly can’t tell you anymore because I’d sound crazy if I did. Look, just trust me on this; it’s a very good movie, for ages 8 through 80. (People younger and older would also enjoy it, but I think they tend to be a bit cranky so I excluded them just for the heck of it.)

This isn’t your typical holiday movie, it’s not a Christmas movie, it’s not an Easter movie it’s not even a movie about love. What it is, is a movie about believing in something… something wonderful and magical. It’s a movie that’ll make you forget about your troubles for a while and believe in magic, warmth, wonder and fun. Why it’s being released on the 21st of December 2012, the day we’re supposed to have the Apocalypse, I’ll never know.  Oh and the music by Alexandre Desplat is pure and pretty like snowflakes and Easter Eggs.

Make sure you stay through the credits to watch a funny little bonus scene while the credits play on.

Watch The Guardians of Childhood Man in the Moon ad: