Film Review with Robert Mann – Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

22nd October 2010

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole 3D ****
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole 2D ***½

Australian visual effects and animation studio Animal Logic is developing a tendency to hire the most unlikely of filmmakers to direct their animated features. Their first all CG animated movie Happy Feet – an all singing all dancing movie with penguins, albeit one with a bit of a dark streak – was brought to the screen by George Miller
, the man behind the Mad Max movies and now for their CG animation second feature, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole – based on the first three volumes of epic fifteen book fantasy book series Guardians of Ga’Hoole by Kathryn Lasky – they have hired another director every bit as unlikely as Miller – Zack Snyder, a director known for distinctly adult features starting with his debut film Dawn of the Dead and who has developed a distinctive visual style in films such as 300 and Watchmen and that will be seen again in next year’s Sucker Punch. While the adult nature of Snyder’s past films doesn’t suggest that he is the right person to helm Legend of the Guardians, his visual style is actually a perfect fit for the material and as unlikely as his directing this film may seem it is also a very good choice on the part of the studio. As animated films go, however, Legend of the Guardians is not an easy sell to moviegoers, something that has only been exacerbated by the studio having renamed the film at least two times – it was originally Guardians of Ga’Hoole then it was Legend of the Guardians without the supplementary The Owls of Ga’Hoole part of the title. The simplest description of what this film is would probably be a war movie with owls and with this comes the fact that this is not the most family friendly of computer animated features in cinemas right now. 300 with owls, anyone?

Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) is a young owl who dreams of adventure and has always been enthralled by tales of the legendary guardian owls of Ga’Hoole told to him by his father, Noctus (voiced by Hugo Weaving) And Soren must soon call on them for help when his brother Kludd (voiced by Ryan Kwanten) pushes him from the safety of the family nest, setting him on the adventure of a lifetime. They both fall into the talons of the Pure Ones and are taken to St. Aggie’s orphanage, a sinister place ruled by the evil Metalbeak (voiced by Joel Edgerton) and his mate Nyra (voiced by Helen Mirren). It soon becomes clear that these evil owls are intent on taking over all the owl kingdoms, and are building their own army and even Kludd becomes seduced by them, turning on his own brother. With the help of Grimble (also voiced by Hugo Weaving), one of their captors who secretly desires liberation from the Pure Ones, Soren and another owl named Gylfie (voiced by Emily Barclay) manage to escape and set out to find the Guardians. Along the way they are joined by more owls including Digger (voiced by David Wenham) and Twilight (voiced by Anthony Lapaglia) as well as Soren’s nest maid snake Mrs. Plitvier (voiced by Miriam Margoyles) and together these brave individuals must fly through the mists of Ga’Hoole in search of the Great Tree, home to the fabled band of winged warriors, whose ranks include the legendary hero Ezylryb (voiced by Geoffrey Rush), the duplicitous Allomere (voiced by Sam Neill) and Boron (voiced by Richard Roxburgh) and Barran (voiced by Deborra-Lee Furness), the king and queen of Ga’Hoole. But will they find these mythical owls in time to save their world?

From the moment an owl flies past and through the studio idents for Warner Bros Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures floating among the clouds at the start of the film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is a film that truly impresses in terms of its visuals. The visuals here are sumptuous and magnificent from start to finish and it is not hard to see why Zack Snyder was chosen to direct as few others could bring the world of Ga’Hoole to life like he does. Everything is stunningly beautiful from the authentically photorealistic representations of the various different types of owls to the majestic skies and picturesque landscapes and the animation is amazing whether you see it in 3D or plain old 2D – although for maximum impact 3D really is the way to go with this film. The 3D here really is some of the best done to date. Evidently, Snyder wanted to do something new and different with 3D and make a 3D movie that truly is his own rather than just do what we have seen already many times, and he has undoubtedly succeeded, particularly with regard to the numerous flight scenes. There was considerable advance planning for the 3D in this film with Snyder actually having gone out into the wilderness to observe and research how owls move and behave in real life and these movements have been perfectly replicated here with the flight sequences being astounding. Flight generally works excellently in 3D and rarely has it been done better than here. This is particularly true of sequences that see the owls not merely flying but taking on the elements. In one sequence, Soren is flying through torrential rain and not only do we get a sense that it really is raining right in front of us but, in a real display of 3D flair, the raindrops come not out of the screen towards the audience but out of the audience into the screen, hitting Soren one raindrop at a time slow motion style (Zack Snyder’s trademark) in one of the most stunning shots seen on the big screen this year. Elsewhere, as Soren flies through a forest set alight, ashes float all over the place and, as a group of owls fight against the force of the wind, there is a genuine sense of the opposing force that they are facing. These are examples of what 3D is really capable of, not just a gimmick but something of real value to the viewing experience and that even adds to the story. And this isn’t where the flair ends either. Throughout there is a real sense of depth, scenes set in caves seeming so realistic that we are almost deceived into believing that there really is a cave spanning far behind the screen, every single feather being truly three dimensional and tiny bits of dust floating in the air around the characters really bringing the environments to life. The flight and battle sequences are also very exciting, the 3D really making us feel like we are along for the ride. The only gripe with the animation is that it is often difficult to tell the characters apart, something that makes following the story a bit difficult at times. Other than this, however, Snyder’s visuals really are sublime. Sadly, the film is held back from greatness by other aspects, notably the writing. The story here is one that comes across as rather convoluted, both being far too complicated for younger viewers and too simple for older ones – a film about talking owls is not exactly one that will appeal to many adults, after all – and, perhaps due to the story actually being based on three of the books, it often feels like several storylines stuck together rather than one complete narrative and, as a result, there are pacing issues, the plot sometimes moving too quickly while at other times it seems too slow moving. The film is also a bit too dark at times, there being very little humour and the tone being very serious for the most part, with the mood only being lightened by a few instances of humour every now and then. The dialogue is also unmemorable and the delivery is also a bit underwhelming, surprising given the wide array of acting talent providing the voices here. For the most part, you won’t even be aware that well known actors are voicing the characters such is how little the voices really add and how distracting the visuals are. Another issue is that the film will likely prove too scary for younger viewers, the battle sequences often proving extremely violent for a PG rated movie such as this. This makes for a film that is really hard to identify a true target audience for – it’s not really an animated film for children and I suspect not many older viewers will be interested in it. So, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is a bit of an oddity as far as animated movies go. This is a film with no clear target audience but one that many will still find much to enjoy in. It is sadly lacking in many areas but it is hard not to be enchanted by the magical visuals on display here and, if nothing else, this film stands as a testament to the artistic potential of both computer animation and 3D and is worth seeing for this very reason – Snyder truly has made a 3D movie that does something different and is his own.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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