Rise of the Guardians

(First thing of note, this movie actually takes place a few days before Easter... But given the amount of Snow, the focus on the North Pole, and the fact it was released for the Christmas season, I'm calling this a Christmas movie.)

     Dreamworks has proven with How to Train Your Dragon that they are good at making a movie based on a book, and has proven it again with Rise of the Guardians. While this movie doesn't reach my top ten, I definitely enjoyed it more than Brave, and am far more likely to get the DVD (my chances of purchasing Brave are pretty nil.)
I suppose I should explain why it doesn't impress me as much, but why it is still good.


First, I initially thought my favorite characters were going to be Santa and the Easter bunny, because of how badass they are, that I was going to dislike Jack because he is interrupting a team of greats, and that Tooth Fairy was going to be the dull Chick of the group. Wrong on all accounts.
     Jack Frost is actually my favorite character, followed by Tooth, then Easter Bunny, Santa, and finally Sandman (he was never really a contender, and what happens in the movie doesn't really help him). While Jack Frost is awesome and Tooth is actually a fun character, Easter Bunny and Santa sorta fall flat. They're cool, but don't leave a particular impact. Rather, Santa's yetis are more memorable.
      Actually, as a quick tangent; I was worried upon seeing the elves in commercials that they'd be Dreamworks equivalent of the minions from despicable me... They were, but they were better. The Yetis also fill the role of the Minions, but because they are stylized, cool, and competent, they are way more awesome. I gag at the thought of an entire movie about the Despicable Me minions, but I would like to see a short Christmas special about the Yetis. Hell, they could possibly even do the Star Wars Christmas special and it'd be hilarious.
      Returning to the characters, I have to say that Dreamworks is much better at making villains than Pixar. Pitch is the main badguy, and what he wants to do is sew fear among the populace, and be recognized again, rather than being an invisible force. He has a Freudian excuse, and actually ties him well with Jack, both of them being invisible to people. Him compared to Mor'du from Brave... Pitch would probably kick Mor'du's ass.

     Where the movie starts to unimpress me is in the plot. The guardians need to fight Pitch, who is trying to make the world fear him again. Except, Pitch fight the guardians by trampling over Children's belief in them... This forces the Guardians to help each other in keeping the children believing. The plot comes to a halt for about 10-20 minutes while the guardians get the children believing again, and just sort of feels like they were trying to create child-like wonderment... I really would've preferred to see them strut their stuff by actually fighting Pitch.

But, I suppose that is something for a sequel... and they got most of the wonderment out of their systems, so they can't repeat it again, meaning Rise of the Guardians 2 (or Guardians Begins, or Guardians Knights) will likely be the folk lore brawl we were hoping the first to be.

(Don't give me that thing about how "It's for kids! There isn't supposed to be a lot of fighting!"
Prince of Egypt is a movie kids can watch, and it is about the Exodus. You know, the story about the thousands of Egyptians killed by plagues? Where the main character kills someone, and we have almost graphic displays of torture... I think kids can handle a little PG fighting. Hell, this is the company that gave us Kung Fu Panda.)

This has been Fixer Sue. You know, The Prince of Egypt reminded me of something... Rule 34? nah that's not it... Miracle 34?