"Guardians" Glitters But Is Not Gold

It's been a very good year for American animation, and maybe if it had been a worse one, I would be feeling more charitable toward Dreamworks' "Rise of the Guardians." Five years ago I'd have given it a pass for at least being something original and staying away from pop-culture references and dance numbers. However, Dreamworks has made some great movies recently, and its competitors keep raising the bar too. And so it's become disappointing to walk into an animated holiday film and discover that it's perfectly suitable and entertaining for small children, but has no greater ambitions. "Guardians" is an absolutely gorgeous picture, has a very good idea at its core, and is executed with no shortage of enthusiasm and creativity. The potential for a very good film is here, but in the end it's only average.

"Rise of the Guardians" presents the appealing idea that Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and the Sandman, who speaks only through pantomime, are members of a group of Guardians, charged with protecting the children of the world. They owe their powers and very existence to children's wonder and belief in the imaginary. The dreaded return of the boogeyman Pitch Black (Jude Law), prompts our heroes to ready themselves for battle. However, they need the help of a newly appointed Guardian, Jack Frost (Chris Pine), a childlike sprite who came into existence about two hundred years ago with no memory and lacking in purpose and direction. None of the children believe in him the way they do in the others, so nobody can see him. Jack's not keen on becoming a Guardian, but is convinced to come along on the adventure to perhaps learn a little more about himself.

"Guardians" features some inspired worldbuilding. Director Peter Ramsey and the Dreamworks animators do a fine job of translating William Joyce's more rough-and-tumble versions of these familiar characters from the "Guardians of Childhood" book series. Here Santa Claus is a jovial Russian giant who wields a pair of swords, the Easter Bunny is a grumpy Australian beast with tribal markings, and the Tooth Fairy resembles a jewel-like hummingbird, who collects baby teeth because they contain memories of childhood. The best character is the most underused one, the Sandman, whose ability to manipulate golden dream sand provides some of the film's most arresting images. Jack Frost is a classic brat, but not too much of a brat to win over our sympathies. The Guardians all have their own special powers, and three of them rule over fantastic realms and command hordes of helpers. This all looks wonderful on the screen, and there seems to be no end to inventive visuals - Santa's bustling workshop, Bunny's subterranean realm, and the Tooth Fairy's swarms of tooth-collectors, miniature versions of herself.

The film runs into problems, however, trying to tell a coherent story in this universe. Focusing on Jack Frost brings up all these questions about the fundamental nature of these characters that the filmmakers have trouble addressing. If no one believes in Jack Frost, how do people even know his name? If seeing is believing, shouldn't letting more kids see the Guardians solve the belief deficit that threatens their powers? Furthermore, Jack's clearly been in existential crisis for a long while, so why hasn't he asked his fellow fantasy beings for some of the most basic answers about his situation before now? At the beginning of the movie he's clearly aware of all the other Guardians and has some understanding of how they operate. And why on earth does a film with such a strong winter theme seem to take place mostly around Easter? It's common for there to be logic gaps in kids' films, especially ones with these elaborate fantasy concepts, so some suspension of disbelief is expected. "Rise of the Guardians," however, has a universe with such poorly defined rules, badly established mythology, and glaring inconsistencies, they're a major stumbling block. The film spends a lot of time trying to explain things, but offers few answers. Also, it doesn't help that Jack Frost's story arc hits so many conventional beats, with nearly all the biggest hurdles coming down to basic failures in communication.

I'm convinced that there's a better movie in here somewhere. There are some nice vocal performances, particularly from Hugh Jackman and Jude Law. The ideas are intriguing enough that I want to see them fleshed out more. If "Rise of the Guardians" is akin to a junior version of "The Avengers," as some have claimed, then the absence of the lead-up origin stories is sorely missed. I reiterate that the movie is a perfectly decent distraction for children, and has enough big set-pieces and shiny spectacle to keep most adults moderately amused for ninety minutes. However, it's not on the level of "Brave" or "Wreck-it Ralph" or "Paranorman," or even Dreamworks' own "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted." And that's a real shame.
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