Movie Review: "Rise of the Guardians" - East Idaho News
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Movie Review: “Rise of the Guardians”

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GETTY B 032312 MovieTix?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1353473341467Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — What do One Direction and Justin Bieber have in common? Their fashion sense and various hairstyles were clearly influenced by Jack Frost!
 
Really. Just check out Rise Of The Guardians and it’s clear the boy responsible for ice,  snow, blizzards, etc. is more than just a guy who is “nipping at your nose” — he’s a tastemaker!
 
Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), by the way, isn’t as jolly as you think. Sure, he’s a nice guy with a strange accent, but he’s also tatted up! I mean, Santa has sleeves. One forearm says, “naughty,” the other says, “nice.” He’s more Henry Rollins than the good ol’ Saint Nick we’ve become accustomed to.
 
FYI, the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) is a boomerang-wielding, 6’1” Australian tough guy while The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) is more of a human-sized exotic pixie.
 
Together, they are the Guardians of children’s imaginations and beliefs. Each child who believes is represented by a light on Santa’s special globe. When a child stops believing, the light goes out.
 
Sweet, right? The Bogeyman doesn’t think so and he’s going to do everything in his power to snuff out all of the lights.
 
Did we mention that all of these characters received their powers from The Man In The Moon?
 
As for Jack, well, he can’t be seen by children because when we first meet him, kids don’t believe in him and that’s where The Man In The Moon comes in. He wants Jack to become a Guardian. Jack would rather hang out with the kids who don’t see him and facilitate snowball fights and renegade sleigh rides.
 
Rise of the Guardians is clearly derivative of many great holiday stories with a touch of The Avengers thrown in. Really, though, it’s more about the power of belief and contributing to the world around us through imagination and trust. Wrap those themes in an adorable package such as Rise of the Guardians, and you have yourself a nice holiday movie for the whole family.

Three and a half out of five stars.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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