If you took this movie and removed the entire plot, all of the dialogue, and most of the scenes, it might be ok. That might be a little dramatic, but in all honesty, Legend of the Guardians works better as a screensaver than an actual film. Zack Snyder’s crazy owl flick is the prime example of how visuals alone, even breathtakingly gorgeous ones, cannot carry a movie.
The story follows a young owl, Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) and his brother Kludd. The two are kidnapped and recruited into an evil owl army, “The Pure Ones.” Soren escapes and along with a rag tag bunch of friends goes in search of The Guardians of legend, while Kludd stays behind and is brainwashed by the Nazis I mean The Pure Ones. If the plot did not center around owls, the story still wouldn’t be anything special, but at least it wouldn’t be completely ridiculous. My disbelief can only be suspended so high, and when two armies of owls armed with sharpened metal claws and highly decorated armor clash in Snyder’s patented super slow-mo, or even worse, when said owl armies are divided up into classes, such as scout, navigator, and blacksmith, there is going to be some facepalming. A lot of facepalming. The story tries so very hard to be serious fantasy, but the only thing it succeeds at is in failing spectacularly.
If the plot was the ugly, ruined half of Harvey Dent’s face, the technical stuff would be the good half. For every wrong the story commits, there is a right in the ways of sound, visuals, and voice acting. Bar none, this movie has the best CGI animation I have ever seen. Some of the scenes are simply astounding in how beautiful they are. It is truly a sight to behold. Coupled with a very strong cast of voice actors that includes the aforementioned Jim Sturgess along with the likes of Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, and Helen Mirren, the technical part of this film is incredible. Almost perfect.
Such marvelous work cannot come cheap, and it puzzles me greatly why anyone would spend all the time, effort, and money to produce such an awesome framework for a script that is bloody awful. The horrendous plot and the laughable dialogue sadly mar a masterful work of art. I have a hard time recommending this movie, but if you’ve got a brand new home theater set-up and you’re looking for a movie to show it off, you could do worse than Legend of the Guardians. Just try and not expect too much out of it aside from the pretty colors.
It is decently obvious you are being mildly dramatic in some points of the review. I think it is overly critical to knock an animated CG movie for asking one to suspend too much disbelief. You know going into the movie it is owls, I consider it unfair to insult that aspect of the movie.
ReplyDeleteDespite that, agreed, the story is nothing spectacular and the dialog has some weak points. Although for me, the amazing visuals, mild humor, and great voice acting work well enough in addition to the sub-par narrative to deliver an enjoyable movie.
If you love CG animation or owls, it is a must see. If you hate both, you're broken.
Oh yes, and unfortunately, you did miss a good bit of some of the best eye-candy to texting. Perhaps that requires a purchase and a re-watch. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHonestly it is on my "to-buy" list, the visuals are just too much to pass up on.
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