Legend Of The Guardians: Owls Of Ga'Hoole

Okay, I just saw the movie tonight...It was...average. They messed with a few personalities (Digger went from a rather down-to-earth owl to a Cloudcuckoolander, they meshed all of the events of the first four books together and messed with the way they went out (They made the final battle look like The Burning instead of The Siege) and the Pure Ones made an appearance WAY before they were supposed to, and Kludd wasn't Metal Beak to start with. Despite the inconsistencies, the action was awesome, the plot was good (and maybe even a bit more interesting than the original) they gave Kludd a Start of Darkness instead of him just randomly coming out as Metal Beak aside from pushing Soren and Eglantine out of their nest, and the special effects were amazing.

\So, in short...average. Not good enough to be considered an awesome movie, not bad enough to be considered as childhood-raping if anyone read the books in junior high and middle school like I did.

I've only read the first book. Would I be able to comprehend what's going on or would I be utterly confused?

edited 25th Sep '10 10:12:41 PM by Accela

You'd be confused. The Pure Ones come in book three. Book two deals with their journey to the tree. The Pure Ones don't run St. Aelogius until book five, and that's only when they conquer it by force.

I have not read the books at all but I was able to understand the movie perfectly. The visuals in this movie were amazing, I was totally blown away my them. The music was not that bad either. The plot was good, it just felt a little bit rushed it could have been done better. Overall it was a pretty good movie and good in 3D. I think its worth your time, especially if you like owls.

I saw the trailer and thought it was a bit cheesy in parts. Was that a problem in the movie?

It wasn't cheesy per se, but Soren quoted the legends of the Guardians way too many times. It almost got too annoying.

I got the impression that the quoting of legends was their way of setting up a bit of a fall when he realized that the Guardians weren't what he was expecting.

I haven't read the books nor seen the movie, but based on the trailers I'm inclined to skip it. It looks like paint-by-numbers fantasy, except that one of the numbers is "only they're OWLS!" One gimmick does not make for an original story.

Never judge a movie by its trailer. Well... try not to. Lion King is Hamlet, "... only they're LIONS!" btw. :P

Personally, I found it to be a refreshing piece of dark, intelligent fantasy animated adventure, in a sea of dull comedy toons. It helped that the owls moved so realistically, and the 'Hero's Journey' motif was carried out so smoothly, like any good story should.

Popular online reviewers highly recommend watching this, from what I've seen on youtube anyway. Spill.com 's video has a 26k view count and give an informative, thorough review. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBXRAaHlJmY

Two 'full price' (5 out of 6) and one 'matinee' (4 out 6). Not bad.

Admittedly, the big-name 'esteemed' conservative critics mostly rate it average or bad. Go figure, no surprise here, to be honest! Out-of-the-ordinary movies are guaranteed low scores from these guys.

Most user ('commoner') reviews, however, are averaged at 'mid-high' rating on IMDB, Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, and Box Office Mojo.

On top of all that, I've been reading people saying the 3D version is more immersive and impressive that AVATAR's 3D, and that's saying something (and I'm saying I saw the 2D version). Following has a very thorough critique of the 3D: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/To-3D-Or-Not-To-3D-Buy-The-Right-Legend-Of-The-Guardians-Ticket-20802.html

edited 30th Sep '10 5:02:20 AM by Transducer

Saw it on date night; I was really impressed with the movie. Not only is it visually amazing (every feather on those birds is rendered painstakingly), but the story is actually good. I'd say it works a lot better than similar "hero's journey" movies because the moments where you could be reflecting on how similar the plot is to other movies/books, you're staring at the screen going "HOLY CRAP THAT OWL JUST MURDERED SOMEONE."

It was suitably epic and suitably adorable. Definitely see it 3D if you can.

It's probably better to accquaint oneself with the books first. They're more of a more-fantastic Watership Down than the trailers make it look.

I haven't read the books, and it was perfectly fine without pre-knowledge. From what I gathered, the movie takes many of the better plot elements from several books to string together into one story.

I watched it having no prior knowledge to the series and I loved it.

The visuals were stunning (Better than Avatar's in every way possible) the fights were awesome and the dark atmosphere really set the mood. The plot seemed a bit rushed and the characterisation was a little iffy at parts, but all in all it was a thrilling movie and breath of fresh air when most of the animated movies they show now are horrible pop-culture riddled pieces of shlock that are wearing out the tired and true Shrek formula that stopped working for them in 2007.

edited 15th Oct '10 11:18:36 PM by PippingFool

I loved the look, atmosphere, etc... but it did seem to be just archetypal fantasy with owl trimmings plotwise. Still, a fun movie, and the SHORT BEFORE IT ALONE was worth the ticket money.

I read the books 6 years ago, and forgot about them. Then I saw the trailer and was all LASKDJFHGQPWOEIRUTYZMXNCBV

I read the books too, but kinda lost interest around book 10. How many are there in total?

Saw it on date night; I was really impressed with the movie. Not only is it visually amazing (every feather on those birds is rendered painstakingly), but the story is actually good. I'd say it works a lot better than similar "hero's journey" movies because the moments where you could be reflecting on how similar the plot is to other movies/books, you're staring at the screen going "HOLY CRAP THAT OWL JUST MURDERED SOMEONE."

It was suitably epic and suitably adorable. Definitely see it 3D if you can.

Saw it with my girlfriend too the other day. I was surprised that they actually dealt with the owls eating mice and stuff. It does have a darkness to it you just don't find in a lot of animated movies. I especially liked that it didn't seem to be chock full of Big Lipped Alligator Moments or pop culture gags.

edited 7th Oct '10 2:27:58 PM by CodyTheHeadlessBoy

I saw this a couple days ago. I read the books back when, so I was probably the only one in our theatergoing group who wasn't weirded out by the concept. Man, that was beautiful animation. Their beaks were a little weird, but the feathers! And someone please take the Slow-Mo button away from Zack Snyder.

I groaned louder than I should've, though, when I recognized the band singing the catchy uptempo Training Montage song.

It was alright, I guess. Being a little bit of a purist when it comes to the books, I didn't like how the movie mangled the plot or how they completely flanderized poor Digger, but there were some good things.

1. The music was very appropriate. It had a bit of a...legendary feel to it. Couldn't have been better.

2. They got Geoffrey Rush to play Ezylryb. They got freaking Captain Barbossa to play Ezylryb! How cool is that?!

3. Nyra is cool. Helen Mirren isn't quite the voice I would have chosen for her, since I wanted to hear the lilt (pet peeve, sorry) the books said she had, but Mirren still does a good job getting across her arrogance and majesty, and Nyra comes across as being just as menacing as she ought to be.

4. As one of the others said above, Kludd is actually given a Start of Darkness here. We get to see exactly how he went from bratty teenager to embodiment of all evil, and his fall was actually very believable. On that note, I did love the Shout-Out to the books, having Nyra being a very large part of Kludd's fall, what with his desire to impress her (And rather unsubtle attraction to her as well).

^I thought she sounded like Carolyn Semour. You know, the Locust Queen?

As far as I can tell, it's not been released over the pond. The only reason I know about it at all is because I saw Owl City (of course) do a song from it, which is kind of annoying.

edited 16th Oct '10 5:29:26 AM by Yej

Really? You haven't seen the advertising?

This films looks gorgeous.

Seconded.

I've just seen the film. It was very pretty. I am very happy for having seen it. I wish they made more movies like it. Everything was awesome. Especially the zombies.

Isn't this an animated movie? Why is this in the Live Action Film forum?