Rise of the Guardians: Unique, Action-Packed, and Fun

While this isn’t exactly a Christmas film, I did and do find myself always enjoying this modern day classic. This is one of the very few movies that I would consider to be a holiday action movie. Modern holiday films either are generic romantic comedies or animated remakes of the classics. This is neither of those, and I’m all for it. 

Let’s start with the action part. This was the strongest aspect of the movie in my opinion. The action scenes are stunning. Every time I’ve seen this film I’ve left it with the same feeling I’ve had with some of my favorite action movies: the intense desire to take a walk, in a good way. When I was younger I would jump up and down on the couch, and now I pace around my room, but either way the feeling is still there. 

The action is so good partially because of the outstanding visual effects and the direction. Especially for CGI animation, the visual effects are incredible. Everything is filled with such beauty and life.

Another thing I found fascinating was the depictions of the guardians. Each one was very unique. Santa Claus was covered in tattoos, buff, and Russian (for whatever reason, not that I minded). In all my life I’ve never seen him as someone who would have tattoos, though I’m glad he does here; he absolutely rocks them. 

Despite the fact that this film took themes that aren’t necessarily original, like the idea of being nice on Christmas, it’s able to develop these themes really well. Maybe this is because this is one of the longer Christmas movies I’ve seen, though it also helps that they have a likeable main character, Jack Frost. I ended up rooting for him more than I’ve ever rooted for any Scrooge or Santa I’ve seen. And there’s also the villain, who was relatable, which is not something you see very often in Christmas films either. Usually, if there is a villain, he cackles. This villain was much more interesting. 

I felt better after watching Rise of the Guardians, brighter, and not just because Christmas is coming up, but because this movie also involves other characters besides Santa, and made me reminisce over them as well, and about all the good that comes with the events associated with them.

One of the only complaints I have about this film is that it has the same problem some of the early 2000s films have: there is some grossness. Some of the characters are hard to look at. All of the elves look icky, with their odd appendages and weird faces. Also, there are some lines that are a little… weird. Partially this is because I’m an adult and this movie is for children, but hearing an anthropomorphic adult Easter Bunny say he doesn’t have time to “hang out with kids,” you start to get a little sketched out. He’s a grown rabbit, why should he be “hanging out” with kids? Yes, I know, this is just a me problem.