A scrappy youngster finds that believing in himself prepares him to save the world in "Legend of the Guardians," a movie that plays exactly like a half-dozen other fantasy films - except that the heroes and villains are all owls.
Adapted from a series of illustrated kids' books, the movie's main selling point is its lush computer-animated rendering of a winged cast of characters and the golden-hued world they live in. It's all in 3-D, of course. Though some viewers will think the effect adds to the thrill of the many swooping, diving flight scenes here, others (like this one) will find it a distraction from some pretty impressive design work. (Impressive in detail, that is, but the sometimes monotonous color schemes are dull in comparison to "Avatar.")
Set in a world without humans, the story centers on Soren, an idealistic young owl who believes the tales of heroic "Guardians" told to him by his dad, and his gruff brother Kludd, who doesn't. When the two are kidnapped by a tribe of evil owls, who enslave the youngsters to help build some mysterious evil energy device, the brothers realize that the legends are true and that they must pick sides.
The overfamiliar premise gets more involving as it goes, largely thanks to a high-caliber cast (Helen Mirren and Geoffrey Rush among them) who bring spirit to the pixel-crafted birds. But the movie faces other hurdles. It's really not a movie for grown-ups - not even for genre-loving adults, despite being made by Zack Snyder, the director of "300" and "Watchmen." But the seriousness of the action and the dryness of the dialogue make it a hard sell for younger kids. ("I'm getting tired from this," a girl near me complained around the one-hour mark, and she did not seem to be alone.)
The accents of the largely Australian cast don't help on the kid-friendliness front. Presumably, the filmmakers hope to follow the thickly accented "Rings" and "Harry Potter" films into blockbuster-franchise territory (there are 15 "Guardians" books to exploit, after all). But not having human mouths to watch makes the accents more challenging, and "Guardians" has nowhere near the level of novelty that fueled the success of those sagas.
'Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'
Our review: C+
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Animated
Running Time: 91 min
MPAA rating: PG
Release Date: Sep 24, 2010
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