When Jack Frost (the voice of Chris Pine) wakes up under a frozen lake, he has no idea who he is or how he got there.
On the plus side, he has magical frost-bringing powers and can ride the wind; on the minus side, no-one can see him. Fast forward 300 years to the present day and while Frost seems a pretty happy chap – he's able to mess around with a bunch of kids and get them into a snowball fight after he gets them out of school via a snow day – the fact no one can see him is clearly a downer.
Meanwhile, the sinister Pitch (Jude Law) is back and the Guardians – North, AKA Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), The Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman, being Aussie as) and the silent Sandman – learn from The Man in the Moon (who may have had a hand in Frost's creation) that they need a new member if they're to defeat Pitch.
No prizes for guessing who that is, or that he doesn’t play well with others, and that the bulk of this film is about Frost learning to step up to his responsibilities while also filling in the gaps about his past.
It's all pretty traditional holiday fare, though visually it's constantly impressive and the by-the-numbers plot moves forward quickly enough to hide most of the bumps.
It's the kind of film that never really does anything surprising or new, but neither does it take the most boringly obvious path.
It's solid children’s entertainment that’s enjoyable but forgettable... though that end credits song is not one you want to stick around for.
3 out of 5
Rise of the Guardians Australian release: 13th December, 2013 Official Site:Rise of the Guardians Cast: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law Director: Peter Ramsey
