Rise of the Guardians

Most of you would have seen The Da Vinci Code. I would like you to cut back to the final scene wherein Robert Langdon is asked of by Sophie whether she should announce to the world that Jesus was only a human being. Langdon replies, “Would you rather add to the belief of a millions or break it”? A simple statement that leaves a lot of us thinking – at least I was.

Rise of the Guardians is based on this very simple concept of belief. Aptly summarized by a simple line again – Do you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes out? Or another one – Do you stop believing in the sun on a cloudy day? These are the very sentiments that keep The Guardians alive. Who are the Guardians? The answer would include Santa Claus aka North (Alec Baldwin), The Tooth Fairy or just Tooth (Isla Fisher) and The Easter Bunny or just Bunny (Hugh Jackman).

But that doesn’t apply to Jack Frost or just Frost (Chris Pine) who doesn’t really know who he is other than the fact that he has been sent down to earth by the moon. He has no recollection of what happens before he becomes Jack Frost. But he is fun to be with and wants most of the kids to have fun as well. But he would be known as anything but a guardian.

So when their arch rival – Pitch Black or just Pitch (Jude Law) decides to take over earth, the Guardians are quite surprised that The Man on The Moon didn’t ask them to take care of the problem at hand. Instead he asks the Guardian to recruit a new one into the fold. No points for guessing that the latest member is Jack Frost.

Director Peter Ramsey is better known for his involvement in the Art Department of movies like Batman Forever, AI and Shark Tale. The Rise of The Guardians would be his first feature film. An animation movie would have been a risky choice to get into mainstream cinema but Ramsey comes on tops thanks to a heart touching story. The quality of work could definitely have done with some improvement but one would tend to ignore it in light of the sweet story.

The voices are outstanding. Although Alec Baldwin seems just a bit over the top in his Scandinavian or Russian accent for Father Christmas. Jude Law in probably his first negative role is outstanding. But the pick of the voices is Hugh Jackman as the Bunny from down under – very distinctively Jackman.

This is the kind of movie that you need to take your kids to over a weekend. Just to re-emphasize their belief in those wonderful creations of mankind. After all isn’t it what we believe in that makes us who we are. 7 on 10 and definitely in the top 5 animation releases in India this year. Have a wonderful time watching.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2628363545/