Legend of the Guardians : The Owls of
Ga'Hoole
Review
by Sean Lynch
If there is one thing that lends itself to
CGI animation more than anything else, it's animals. It's a theory
which is firmly cemented as fact with the truly astonishing visuals
of Legend of
the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole.
Created by the same folks behind the equally cute and fluffy birds of Happy Feet and
acclaimed director Zack Snyder (300
and Watchmen) Legend of the Guardians
follows the tale of Soren, a young owl enthralled by his father's epic
stories of
the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole".
The Guardians are / were a mythic band of winged warriors (with metal
helmets... I'm assuming they had a blacksmith on standby) who had
fought a great battle to save all of owl kind from the evil Pure Ones.
While Soren dreams of someday joining his heroes, his older brother
Kludd thinks that's a lame balls idea and yearns to hunt, fly and steal
his
father's favour from his younger sibling.
However, after falling from their treetop
home during a "flight trial", the two youngsters land in the talons of the
Pure Ones - forced into a life of slavery.
Now... this is where things get tricky. In
what should be a simple "Bad Guys vs Good Guys" story - we soon get
mixed up in double crossings, lute playing eccentrics and some
unexplained magnetic blue metal which is found in coughed up digested mice
(I'm not kidding).
For a fully grown human with semi functioning brain - it's still pretty hard to wrap your head around what's
actually happening storywise in Guardians.
So heaven knows how the littlies will keep up.
To make matters worse, the CGI effects are
quite literally so
amazingly spectacular and
accurate (which, in itself isn't a bad thing), that it's
near impossible to work out who is who. Add to that the fact that the
all Aussie / New Zealand cast's voices are indistinguishable (Bill
Hunter, Sam Neil, Hugo Weaving and Geoffrey Rush are the only ones
you'll pick) that any and all plot points that involve betrayal and
double crossing are useless.
Why? Because we the audience don't know who
is the double crossed... or who is the double crossee. There are
glimpses of the type of emotional impact we felt during The Lion King -
but only glimpes.
It really buries an otherwise phenomenal cinematic
achievement.
Without question Legend of the Guardians : The
Owls of Ga'Hoole is the single greatest and most effective
use of CGI and 3D cinema technology ever - yet the confusing story
lines, forgettable voice work and a noticeable lack of a
sense of humour (bar the efforts of David Wenham) leave Snyder's entry
into the CGI world a sub par affair. Hell, even the title is a mouthful!
Legend of the Guardians : The
Owls of Ga'Hoole is well worth checking out, if only to see the
sheer beauty of the images on screen - but don't expect to have the
kids requesting this one of DVD come Christmas time.
3.5 out
of 5
Legend of
the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Australian release: 30th
September,
2010
Official
Site: Legend of the Guardians : The Owls of
Ga'Hoole
Cast: Helen Mirren, Emilie de
Ravin, Ryan Kwanten, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Rachael Taylor
Director: Zack Snyder
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