Film reviews
Men In Black 3
It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.
Bel Ami
The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.
The Dictator
A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.
The Woman In Black
Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole (Film)
Rating: PG
Running Time: 90
Country: USA, Australia
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Abbie Cornish, Helen Mirren, Emilie De Ravin, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving
Distributor: Roadshow
Release Date: September 30, 2010
Film Worth: $13.50
FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worthWhile its underlying themes are dark, this visually stunning animation is an enthralling fantasy adventure from start to finish.
Director Zack Snyder has made his mark in Hollywood with tough, bristling action adventure and horror films, serving up liberal doses of blood spray, sword play and fist fights in Dawn Of The Dead, 300 and Watchmen. With only three notches on his belt, Snyder had already proven himself to be a singularly bold and daring talent. Now he takes a detour of seemingly massive proportions, choosing as his next project an animated adaptation of the children's fantasy novels of author Kathryn Lasky. His hardcore fans, however, need not fear that big screen hardman Snyder has gone soft.
Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole is more Lord Of The Rings than it is Shrek or Toy Story. Like his previous films, it thrives on action and fight sequences, while always finding ample time for character development. Sure, Legend Of The Guardians is a kids' flick, but it's wearing brass knuckles.
Created in Australia by digital production company Animal Logic (who worked extensively on Snyder's 300, as well as George Miller's Happy Feet), the film is visually sumptuous, boasting gorgeously dark-hued landscapes and finely modulated character animations. The story, meanwhile, is literally pulsing with subtext and cultural allusions.
Swirling around a long gestating feud between two tribes of owls, and in particular upon the two brothers - the noble and kind hearted Soren (Jim Sturgess) and the brutish Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) - who choose different sides in the battle, the film rings with echoes of everything from The Hitler Youth of WW2 to child soldiers in contemporary Africa. In the film's grand, frightening tableaux, The Pure Ones, led by the vicious Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton) and his conniving mate, Nyra (Helen Mirren), kidnap baby owls and turn them into child soldiers and slaves, through regimented cruelty and brainwashing. They want nothing short of world domination, and the only thing standing in their way are the decent, mythical Owls Of Ga'Hoole.
When combined with the film's gothic production design and stark imagery, the audience is left with little choice but to let its collective mind wander to the darker pages of recent world history.
It's heady, heavy stuff for a children's film, but Snyder never oversteps the line. His battle scenes are intense but never bloody, and there's enough light and humour to balance the darkness. The only real misstep comes with one horribly misjudged musical scene, where you can literally sense the dead hand of nervous studio interference, as if the suits begged Snyder to lighten things up a bit to keep Middle America happy.
That, however, is just one very minor blight on what is ultimately a thrilling, enthralling fantasy adventure that injects exciting new colours into the often pale world of children's animated films.
