A Review...
It's kind of funny. It's been a long time since I so desperately wanted to see a movie, and I guess that says something for the power of advertisement. I can't tell you how many films I took in that had a trailer for Legend of the Guardians... (I'll make a guess at 3 or 4). At any rate, every time I saw the trailer, I was just excited about this movie. At least once, Phil leaned over and said something to the effect of, "You know... it's not going to be clean. They're going to put something in it..." I ignored him.
Well... early October kind of got away from me (imagine that), and one afternoon Phil made some comment about us going to see Legend of the Guardians, and I was thrilled when he informed me that based on the review at plugged in (which I frequent but hadn't had time to visit), he "thought" it looked clean. No kidding? We had a date with the owls...
Spoilers Ahead...
So we got to the theater a little late, but it doesn't really matter, because our theater of choice plays something like 17 trillion previews before each movie anyway. Including Phil, Miah (who was sleeping in her baby carrier), and myself, there were five people in the theater. We have a knack for taking in movies when no one else is...
I will say, right off the bat, that this is not a "little kids'" movie. I really get kind of irritated with people who think that anything animated or related to animals is a children's film. This movie goes in our PG-10 pile (which means that Seth can watch it, because he's 10, but he probably won't until Grace is 10... or maybe Grace will get to watch it when she's 9, because when you have a sibling who is just 13 months older than you, you sometimes reap the benefits of their age. Caleb and Ian will not see this one for a long time. Miah tried really hard to sneak peeks at the theater...) There is nothing overtly bloody or anything, but there is some violence (beyond like Jafar turning into a snake violence), and there are also some scary/intense scenes. I would be lying to say otherwise. There is also a moment in which war is described as, "Hell". So you have to be ready to deal with that one however you wish with your kids. I found this to be very contextual and accurate. Everyone may not. That's the "technical" stuff.
Now the plot... Oh, my... the teachable moments were many. Any film that encourages imagination... and dreams... and real heroes... and family... and the concept that you don't always have to see it to believe it... Well, a film like that is just going to get my stamp of approval. I will warn, though, that it's not all warm and fuzzy... particularly when Soren and Kludd (brothers) go their separate ways... one to follow his dream and fight for what is right... the other to follow just what makes sense, eventually to be plunged into evil (although it doesn't appear death... I am just now realizing that this is a long series of books, so obviously we have room for a sequel... or more...)
Ironically, it looks like Legend of the Guardians is based on the first 3 books, and if I had one complaint about the movie it would be that there wasn't as much plot development as I would have liked. It seems to me that maybe... just maybe... they could have focused on just the first book or at the very least, they could have made the movie longer (it was only an hour and a half). I don't know... perhaps this testifies to the fact that I am still able to be entertained by something that was written for 9-12 year olds. I am definitely going to be picking up the books...
My final analysis is that this is a must see for those who like epic tales... but you have to understand that it is not written like Lord of the Rings... or Star Wars... or even Narnia. In a lot of ways, I like that it is an epic tale of good and evil that I can share with my bigger kids, right now (or at least soon). Movies like the Lord of the Rings trilogy are still going to be waiting for a long time around here. I love the movies, myself, but heck... they give me nightmares!
However, I wouldn't shy away from Legend of the Guardians because you don't have kids. It's a good story that was captivating enough that I would watch it again on my own and am definitely looking forward to what happens next.
Lisa
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