Rise of the Guardians - AAAARGH! This movie was so goddamn frustrating! There was not a moment in this movie that didn't add yet another question! Everything is so fucking vague. The movie itself looks very nice, but it is clear that everything is waaaaay overdesigned, and always moving fast to try to distract you from all the questions they don't answer.
What is a Guardian? That does that title imply? Should they really keep showing us AFRICA on Santa's globe computer monitor thing if they are talking about protecting children?! What do they do other than what's related to their holiday or job? There are apparently other mythical beings (The Leprechaun, and at least one other I forget), why aren't they Guardians too? What does ANY ONE of their powers involve? Why does Santa have portal snowglobe things if he has his sleigh? What are the actual stakes involved here? Did the Sandman really die? How did Pitch's dark sparkly sand stuff "kill" him if it's just darkened versions of his own glowy golden sand stuff? What is even "death" to these things? What is Pitch? Is he the Boogeyman, or something else? They seem to indicate he gives kids fear, or bad dreams, or something, but what is the difference between him and Sandman, since I thought Sandman just made you sleep? Ok, Sandman is pretty badass, he was my favorite. What are those stone two-faced egg things in the Easter Bunny's warren? Why are eggs coming from flowers WITH CREEPY FUCKING LEGS?! Why did the Moon essentially ABDUCT a kid to turn him into a fairy tale creature, and then not tell him anything? Why isn't he upset when he finds out his past and it turns out he did have a family WHO ARE ALL NOW 300 YEARS DEAD?! Why is Jack Frost happy at the end and telling us to believe in the Moon, when it was just a deadbeat Dad to him?
These and hundreds of other questions ran through my head as I watched it. Just a messy, poorly thought out movie, with really nice visuals.
Guardians are there to protect children's sense of wonderment and happiness. The title implies exactly what happens in the movie; belief in them wanes, but grows back in record numbers, hence the Rise. Africa's children are kinda getting the short end of the stick. The fact that they show Africa is because that's a place where everyone can identify that has hardships and poor children. I'm pretty sure you're SEEING in the movie what they're doing other than their specific mythical task. The Man in the Moon only selects those that he sees as worthy to be Guardians, which is why there are only the 5 of them. MITM is basically the Oracle of the Guardians Universe, and he's well respected by all mythical beings, hence why they follow him. Santa's Sleigh travels at fairly normal speed(for a flying sleigh, that is). His method of traveling all over the world IS the snowglobes. The actual stakes were pretty obvious, I thought; the goal was to keep children excited about things they didn't understand. The Guardians, plus the other mythological beings, are sustained by children's happiness and belief in them. The belief that those children have makes them happy, which fuels the supernatural people to FURTHER that belief. Sandman was pretty much trapped in an alternate universe created by Pitch. I'd think someone versed in comics would accept that kind of explanation.
I think it's mentioned that Pitch is the boogeyman at least once during the film, but yeah, that's basically him. Fear embodied. Dark thoughts. Sadness. It explains perfectly why he's the arch nemesis of the Guardians, who represent Happiness and Hope. He actually had to tinker and play with the spells to master Sandman's sleep/dream power, and then play with even MORE to corrupt it. I believe he says something about how it took him a long time to master "his little trick." Why does where the eggs come from matter? It's a magic world, roll with it. The Moon's abduction for Jack was for his personal growth. He did a good thing, but he also was kinda irresponsible with regards to getting him into the situation. He needed to learn the lesson that fun and games are great, but you have to be mindful of your surroundings, lest you get into trouble. I didn't think his not being upset was that strange; he'd spent 300 years pondering that question, and when he finally got an answer, it gave him a lot of peace. As far as the Deadbeat Dad thing, The Man in the Moon just named him Sue and set him out to face the world.
I don't have a good recollection of the Easter Bunny's warren, but I remember enjoying it.
Not sure what the powers question is in regards to, specify and I'll elaborate:)
I really did enjoy the movie, and I've read none of the books. I'm sure someone here knows more about the lore in the Guardians universe than me. These are just the things that I'd gathered from the movie when I watched it a year ago. I haven't seen it since then.
Topic: What was the last movie you watched? (Read 1538472 times)
