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Review: Dreamworks Rise of the Guardians

By Sabrina Condon November 20, 2012

I was invited to the Dreamworks 3D movie premier of Rise of the Guardian, coming out in theaters on November 21st.  Of course anyone that knows Dreamworks knows that nearly any movie they produce is beyond incredible.  This one certainly met and far exceeded my expectations.

I was thankful for the way the 3D animation was done.  My personal childhood fears of anything 3D is that something will jump out or scare me.  I did not have that feeling with this movie.  The 3D effect purely enhanced the movie, making you feel a part of it.  I even found myself leaning to the side, trying to peak around the corner or over the top of the mountain.

The Guardians themselves are the strongest and most common characters we believe in….Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman.  With an air of any top-notch super-hero movie, each character personifies the basic beliefs within each of us, such as Santa and wonderment or the Easter Bunny and the belief in new life and beginnings. 

Now there’s a new super-hero Guardian with his own precious magic, Jack Frost, personifying the spirit of fun, mischief and chaos.  After all, who do you believe brings those snow days children eagerly await?  You are brought through his personal journey of believing and understanding what make him important.  With his hip-teenage look and personality, any child can relate or look up to him. 

The enemy, Pitch, is a boogie man that brings nightmares, darkness, and unhappiness.  He had a new plan to extinguish the belief each child has Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the rest of the Guardians, removing their powers and taking over the world.  He would love nothing more than to return to the Dark Ages, and his movie scenes bring that desire to life.

Each character’s robust personality includes personable flaws we all face, including impulsiveness, jealousy, infatuation, and many more.  As such, the movie offers many ‘teachable moment’ opportunities, something I look for in any movie or book.  It further lays the groundwork for the special discussions we all know eventually happen with children in real-life.  Use the essence of each character, such as the Tooth Fairy representation of faith in the future and importance of new memories, when discussion time arrives.  We should ALL believe in the wonderment of life characterized by Santa, after all. 

In regard to your specific child, please note this is a PG movie.  The character’s personalities are well done, larger than life and untraditional.  The “demanding and overbearing” human side of Santa may not jive with a child’s pre-conceived perfect, belly-full-of-jello image.  I invite you to view Rise of the Guardian’s website http://www.riseoftheguardians.com/ to watch clips of each character to better understand this point and how your child may react.  I state this simply so properly prepare yourself and your child, as one should do with any movie.  The scenes with Pitch, in particular, may be too realistic for more sensitive children.

I must re-emphasize that Dreamworks met and exceeded my expectations.  You will not be disappointed in the complex storyline, the scenery, the humor, the characters, or anything within this movie.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and highly recommend it, again with the caveat that you verify for yourself what is appropriate for your own child.