I actually quite enjoyed The Rise of the Guardians. It is probably the most visually assured animation from Dreamworks to date, the cast are all having a great time and the plot is simple but effective. However, I just didn’t wind up feeling an emotional connection to the central character, Jack Frost. Jack is an embodiment of an abstract concept – a “guardian” appointed by “the Man in the Moon” (or “Manny” to his friends). The bulk of Rise of the Guardians is about Jack learning to embrace his new position and everything that comes with it – to swallow his insecurity and to accept that he has been chosen to do a kick-ass job.
Still, it remains quite difficult to connect with Jack Frost, and I wonder if it’s the same problem that made Pixar’s much-maligned Cars 2 so difficult to swallow. Rather than learning to temper his unreliable inconsistency, the movie asks an irresponsible character to effectively embrace the flaw completely.
Note: This article contains a few spoilers for Rise of the Guardians.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alec baldwin, Axel Foley, chris pine, Dreamwork, DreamWorks Animation, Easter Bunny, Ferris Bueller, Guardians, jack, Jack Frost, james t. kirk, Mater, Matthew Broderick, McCoy, pixar, Rise of the Guardians, Santa Claus | 2 Comments »
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