I have to admit that I am completely unfamiliar with book series upon which this movie is based. I ended up seeing it completely on a whim, a friend and I wanting to see something but dealing with a lack o' good (not already seen) options in theaters. As it turns out, being a midweek 10:00 PM showing of a 3D kid-esque movie a few weeks after it first opened meant we were the only ones in the theater (always a good time when that happens, though not necessarily directly related to this review [worthy of an aside, at least, parenthetical and otherwise]). So I had no expectations whatsoever going in.

So what did I find? Well, first and foremost...a 3D Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner cartoon before the beginning of the movie. Awesome! How can you go wrong with an apparently independently wealthy yet obsessive coyote?! In 3D! That was worth the price of admission right there! But still no directly related to the movie being reviewed, and thus we move on.

Fantastic animation here. In this post-Pixar age I think it takes a lot to stand out, but Legend of the Guardians blew me away with the quality of the animation. Top notch. The 3D effects were also pretty decent, but I'm not convinced that they really added anything to the movie. They certainly didn't detract either, but it was the animation and not the 3D that had me excited.

Now the content of the movie. Well, the plot follows two owl brothers, Soren and Kludd, just on the cusp of learning to fly, who are kidnapped (owlnapped?) by strange owls and brought to the evil-looking lair of the evil-looking owl Metalbeak and his army. Young owls are brought in to be slaves and, in few instances, be conscripted into said army. Soren and new friend Gylfie are able to make their escape and are off in a quest to locate the titular Guardians of Ga'hoole to get help, gaining new friends along the way, while Kludd (what kind of owl parents would name a kid "Kludd"? No wonder he has issues!) decides that he likes the whole "the strong conquer the weak" mentality preached by Metalbeak and his ilk. The Guardians are found, various montages are seen, and then a climactic battle takes place, though I leave it to you to guess the outcome.

My understanding is that this movie is based upon the plots of the first three books in the series (of which there are 15, plus some side stories), and I think it kind of shows... three books crammed into one movie is potentially kind of a lot. As such, there were certain things that happened really rather quickly and/or were somewhat glossed over. An example: when Soren and Kludd were first taken, it certainly seemed like they traveled quite the long distance to get to Metalbeak's stronghold. Later, though, Kludd (after turning to the Dark Side) makes mention of a younger sister, and within minutes...the sister is there, having thus been taken as well. That was fast. How did they know exactly how to get back to the home nest? Didn't the parents have anything to say about evil owls coming back to the nest to take yet another kid? I'm guessing there was more to that little scene in the books, though perhaps I am wrong. Another thing is that the merry band of good guys on the quest to find the Guardians all become friends rather quickly as well. This was clearly a necessity of convenience, because the movie had too much to cover and couldn't spend too much time on natural bonding.

It was also a little hard to keep track of the different names of the various owls, both good and bad. I spent much of the movie trying to figure out who the voice actors were, and so we stayed for the credits in order to find out. That didn't really help, as we were all "Oh, look, Sam Neill was one of the voices? Wait, which owl was Allomere?!" and such exclamations (again, we had no problem about voicing such exclamations aloud, as we were the only ones in the theater). Had I/we been familiar with the books, this wouldn't have been a problem, but watching the movie, it was kind of an odd issue.

But having said that...the movie was still enjoyable. While some parts were a tad hard to follow and often caused odd questions arose due to the amount of plot they tried to get through, it was still a good action/adventure, if, perhaps, rather predictable (oh, we're seeing a montage about flight training... think that specific training will come in useful for our hero at the end? Ah, do you think that there will be a final showdown between the brothers and the good brother will win but the bad brother will be around to come back in the future?).

One thing I have to wonder about (one thing?!)...is the age range this movie was made for (and, by extension, the books were written for). This film version is actually kind of violent at places. Not bloody or anything, but there is definite owl-on-owl violence going on, enough so that I think younger kids would be rather disturbed. But the overall plot and themes are not really complex enough for older kids (I could be wrong about that -- figuring out the identity of the owls should keep them mentally stimulated, if nothing else) and there isn't much here on a deeper level for adults.

The verdict? I enjoyed it. It didn’t make me want to run out and read the books, and I think the script could definitely have been streamlined, but the animation is kick-ass, the action is good, and the plot is enjoyable if predictable. If you have any interest at all in seeing the movie -- or have kids who do -- go for it. You're not really missing anything if you don’t watch this one, but you won't feel like the movie sucked one year of your life away if you do.

And really, there’s a 3D Roadrunner cartoon! So worth the price of admission.

  -- K. Burtt