Die Legende der Wächter

Is 2010 the Golden Year of CG-animated films? We already had TWO excellent films, all computer animated and all family-friendly. "How To Train Your Dragon" and especially "Toy Story 3" are stunning in terms of quality and technicalities. Even "Despicable Me" had a heart. I'd add another to that list: "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole".

There will be complaints, like every other movie. Some will call the story unoriginal. Some'll say it's childish because it has talking animals. Some'll say it's stupid for the exact same reasons. I say, so what?! It's a family film, meaning there's something for both kids and those who are kids-at-heart! People go to the movies to be entertained, especially families, and with that this film delivers in spades.

First we have a superb, outstanding cast consisting of Australian/British actors of both the young and highest caliber. There's too many actors to say here, so I'll just say this: the voice acting is terrific. The owls speak in accents (for obvious reasons) making them sound as far and away from being "Hollywood-ized" as possible. There's depth, determination and heart to these characters. The villains of the film are really menacing, a feat considering that almost every character in the film are owls.

Story-wise, it's obviously unoriginal, but it is told very well. This is due to the animation, which is absolutely, spectacularly stunning. There is a great amount of detail in the film, especially on the owls, you can see every feather, every movement they make, every gust of wind that brushes that pass their feathers. Director Zack Snyder (finally using his talents for the kids) puts his signature style to terrific use here, using the "ramping" (frantic slowing down and speeding up repeatedly) technique from his "300" and "Watchmen" for the action sequences, that will make one forget he is watching an animated film, let alone a movie that has talking owls. It's absolutely breathtaking to see it in 2D alone, I watched it in 3D and had a hard time closing my stuck jaw afterwords!

The film looks and feels like it's a lost "Lord of the Rings" film. There's the armor, and the swords (talons), and then there's the big bad (Metal Beak) and the young hero (Soren) who is destined for greatness. It's set in a fantasy, far-away world where 3D is put to terrific use. Not since "Avatar" has 3D been used so efficiently and effectively that makes it an essential part of the story instead of being distracting and gimmicky. Likewise, the cinematography and the orchestral score is great and puts you into the film more. The owls look painstakingly well- rendered and they don't look too-clichéd-cartoony or too-frighteningly- realistic. It's just right. The only gripe I had with the film is the insertion of an Owl-City (because he's practically the most famous artist today with the word "Owl" in his name) song in the middle of the film which is distracting. But apart from that everything else was great.

In short, it's one of the best animated films of the year. It's the perfect movie to bring your family (and maybe friends as well) and enjoy. Have no worries, sit back, and enjoy the ride. And seeing it in 3D is a plus, no matter what anyone else says. The ending also hints at a sequel. Hope that's a possibility as Warner Bros. has a potential new family franchise at their hands. And I hope Snyder returns as well.

Overall value: 74/100

The owl Noctus never gets tired to tell the epic stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole to his young barn owlets Kludd, the dreamer Soren and their younger sister Eglantine. Soren and Eglantine delight with the narrative, but the jealous Kludd gets bored and upset with the tales of the protectors of the Kingdom of Ga'Hoole. One day, Soren and Kludd fall out of their nest while learning to fly alone and they are kidnapped by evil owls to work for Metalbeak and Nyra. The owlets are divided in soldiers or hard workers in the Pelletorium collecting owl pellets to extract a fleck to generate a magnetic field. Soren befriends the elf owl Gylfie and they learn that the owlets are "moon-blinked" by the moon while sleeping and awake brainwashed, working like blinded zombies. They resist and sooner Gylfie's captor Grimble teaches them how to fly and meet the Guardians of Ga'Hoole to fight against Metalbeak and Nyra and the evil army of The Pure Ones.

"Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" is a very impressive animation. The story is only reasonable, with the eternal conflict between good and evil inspired in the Nazis in a scenario that recalls Avatar. However, the awesome quality of CGI and the voices (Eglantine is delightful) deserved a better story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Lenda dos Guardiões" ("The Legend of the Guardians")

The looks of this feature was the absolute highlight of Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and so far the pinnacle of what CGI can do which is rare praise from me, because I rarely get such feelings by watching computer animation.

That's is both a blessing and a curse, because the story is a little messy and the characters are a mixed bag. Soren and Kludd are young owls about to learn to fly, but accidentally fall out of their nest and are captured by other owls to be slaves. From there on they go through many things with different consequences. While that's going on many new characters are introduced, and that's where they sacrifice quality in exchange of quantity. Some characters are annoying one-note comic reliefs (don't remember their names) and were not serving much of to the story.

BUT the saving grace was the villains! Oh god they were intimidating! If Disney's Maleficent and Frollo had a child, that would be them! Every time they're on screen I got the chills! Enslaving other owls because they view themselves as superior!

Even if it has a story with flaws and a mixed bag of main characters, I can without a doubt tell that this is the best looking animated movie to be released in a long time and set the bar unbelievably high for the rest of the 2010's. Don't know if a better looking movie has turned up considering the fact that we're currently at the end of 2018, but this is a tough one to beat.

Legend of the Guardians is director Zack Snyder's first attempt at a completely CGI and children's film while his other credits are all hard "R" films. So does the king of slow-mo succeed?

The quick answer is yes. Guardian's is a film that takes the liberties 3D and photo realistic CGI have to offer, like Avatar, to make a world and characters larger (or smaller) than life to let your mind be soothed into something beautiful, mystical, and most importantly, entertaining.

The story takes the classic yet reliable fable of good versus evil. To put it simply, an army of Evil owls who have obvious horrid intentions of ruling the Owl Kingdom must be stopped against all odds. The only creatures powerful and wise enough to defeat the army are the legendary Guardians of Gahoole.

The film follows main owlet Soran, voiced heroically by Jim Sturgess. Soran is kidnapped by the army of the Evil Owls. After being exposed to the armies wrong doings, Soran knows the only hope in defeating the baddies are to warn the Guardians. From there, the film takes flight into an epic adventure of action, companionship, and beauty.

Guardians is a rare treat in computer animated cinema. While Pixar is always reliable, Guardians is a very different film that strives to be an epic while appealing to a mass audience and succeeds in doing so. From the fantastic action scenes, to the articulate directing, spectacular animation, smart 3D, and top notch voice acting, Guardians is a film that will leave you mesmerized days after it's viewing.

Within the Pixar Dominated, Slapstick Permeated, Cookie-Cutter animated generation we currently live in, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Directed by Zack Snyder ("300" & "Watchmen"), breaks this pedestrian mold through its Captivating Visuals, Engaging 3D, and its Lord of the Rings-like Odyssey.

Based on a series of books written by Kathryn Lasky, this mythological story centers on dreamer Soren (Jim Sturgess), a young owl enamored with stories of "The Guardians", a clan of warrior owls who hail from the Tree of Ga'Hoole, and protect the weak from an evil army called the Pure Ones. When Soren and his brother, Kludd (Ryan Kwanten), are kidnapped by these Pure Ones, the stories become reality. Soren escapes and hunts for the Guardians to save the owl kingdom from the Pure Ones, while Kludd slowly becomes one.

Legend of the Guardians is a milestone for animation and a 3D visual masterpiece. Under the direction of Snyder, Australian company Animal Logic (Creators of "Happy Feet" & special FX for "The Matrix" and "Lord of the Rings") have achieved something incredibly remarkable. The interaction of air and digital feathers work in a harmony that makes Avatar look like an old computer game. The landscapes are absolutely breathtaking, Monsoons are shimmering and talons glistening, this brings out the best in Snyder's heavily artistic directing style, and has adorned this movie with graceful battle scenes, beautifully blended with his signature slow motion shots at the perfect moments.

With its comparisons to films like "The Secret of NIMH", "Watership Down", "The Dark Crystal", with clear shades of "Star Wars", Guardians is not your run-of-the-mill animated movie with a fart joke every 10 seconds. The movie takes on a much more serious disposition which fits perfectly with its thematic flow. It is important to note, the film deals with issues such as courage, unity, loyalty, faith, sacrifice and betrayal tackled by Snyder with understated maturity. Though the story moves at a fairly quick pace, you will be immersed in what develops, as the writers did well to implement essentials to the storyline with comprehensible dialogue.

With that being said, Guardians is an engaging and relatively intense movie from start to finish. Thus, successfully separating our mindset of "Animated" and "Kid Friendly" being synonymous with each other. It is inspirational, breathtaking, humorous and educational with all the essentials of an all in all great story and movie. The kids and adults will both learn, while at the same time be visually enraptured by the animation's beauty. Don't be remotely surprised if you see sequels as it certainly has the legs to do so...or should I say wings (Note to self: Refrain from the bird puns..)