Rise of the Guardians

[assydingo]

After Paranorman this is my favorite animated film of the year. I agree with what The Mad Kiwi wrote about Jack's backstory. This movie had fantastic character development and evoked a genuine sense of wonder with the visuals.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by The Mad Kiwi

I loved this film and already consider it to be my favorite animated flick from Dreamworks. There's a sense of wonder and awe about it that's missing in most of their films (save for How to Train Your Dragon and The Prince of Egypt, which happen to be my other two favorite films of theirs).
I really want this film to do well, because otherwise I fear Dreamworks may want to revert to the tried-and-true wacky animal comedy formula of theirs. I prefer their more adventurous and fantastical flicks like these over, say, the Shrek or Madagascar films.

One thing I pointed out on the 3D board's thread is that there seems to be a REASON Dreamworks' other comedies--besides Egypt, Dragon and Guardians, and to a lesser degree, Monsters vs. Aliens--tend to be so negative and unfunny is that the entire studio seems to be living under the side effects of their own inferiority complex.
Three guesses where that came from, with Katzenberg at the helm...Like the old saying about "Bullied children learn only how to bully or be bullied".

But think of the DW movies you liked, and they usually had characters we sympathized with, like Hiccup and Susan/Ginormica, and now Jack Frost: Characters who actually had some interest to accomplish, a normal proactive view of themselves, and realistic goals to overcome, beyond simply "I don't want those insensitive meanies to laugh at me anymore! "
A nice change from DW's usual money-name taste of putting Jack Black in KFP, Will Ferrell in Megamind, or Ben Stiller in Madagascar 1-7 up there to do their one Self-Delusional Legend-in-Their-Own-Minds Loser shtick, that we never know whether we're supposed to laugh at or root for, and the movies never seem to know which side of the fence they're on either.

The only time we get a DW movie with any entertaining emotional resonance or character identification is when someone ELSE works for the studio (Chris Sanders, William Joyce, GDT)--Someone who didn't grow up with the same inferiority complex of Trying to Be the Other Studios, and of venting his spleen at his old boss.
IOW, they're a studio that can only function with blood transfusions, since the problem's in the roots.

(FTR, came in 4th at the B.O. this week, and, yes, that's with the full weekend numbers.
That I don't blame as much on sparkling vampires, presidents, or general DW-phobia, as much as to DW's almost staunch refusal to promote this movie, even with a surprising shortage of family movies this season. It wasn't just because of Disney's competition from Wreck-It Ralph that I saw almost literally NO previews for RotG until the last two weeks, and up to that point, I was still convinced it wasn't opening till March...Did people even know it was in theaters, or did they think Hotel Transylvania was still hanging around? )

[Bk_Tan]

More people should give this a chance.

They overlooked Arthur Christmas last year already.

[arcadeforest]

Taking the family to see this next weekend - we are all looking forward to it.

[Monkey]

Great movie. A shame something like Brave gets far more attention. This and Wreck It Ralph are top notch for CGI movies.

I didn't go in much with much expectations but this movie is fantastic! Great art direction, character designs, imaginative worlds and a story the was really well done. I cared about the characters quite a bit.

[beadelf]

Saw this last night, really enjoyed it, it was touching in places and also had a very nice feel to it.

a good christmas movie

[assydingo]

Originally Posted by Monkey

Great movie. A shame something like Brave gets far more attention. This and Wreck It Ralph are top notch for CGI movies.

I didn't go in much with much expectations but this movie is fantastic! Great art direction, character designs, imaginative worlds and a story the was really well done. I cared about the characters quite a bit.

Brave was a decent film with fantastic visuals.

I'm sure I'd like it more if I didn't know that the director was changed. When the director who came up with the idea, who the story was personal for, doesn't get to finish the project it's a damn shame.

I'll never truly know that it would have been better. However my belief that it would've been is basically a 100%.

[Shanderson88]

I went to see this Saturday with the wife and kid. Overall good film, really enjoyed it. Not my favorite animated of the year, that distinction goes to Wreck-It Ralph, but still something I would recommend. I am sure this will be in my collection right around release day.

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by assydingo

Brave was a decent film with fantastic visuals.

I'm sure I'd like it more if I didn't know that the director was changed. When the director who came up with the idea, who the story was personal for, doesn't get to finish the project it's a damn shame.

I'll never truly know that it would have been better. However my belief that it would've been is basically a 100%.

Agree on Brave, fantastic visuals and decent film.

Yeah, I read about that. Hard to argue it couldn't have been a lot better regardless.

[Lnds500]

If someone in the US is gonna watch this and wanna save some cash, I have a ticket for sale .

I posted on the trading forum, but this is the movie's thread after all

[cinemaphile]

I took the kids to see this tonight. That was.... disappointing.
I've seen far worse movies. I wouldn't even say this was a bad movie. I just didn't dig it.

I actually found myself frequently bored by the movie, and I really disliked a lot of the character designs. I liked Jack and his whole backstory, though is there anyone who didn't catch on from the very beginning that "fun" was his thing? How oblivious is he? (and Santa, and everyone else).

[Bk_Tan]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

I took the kids to see this tonight. That was.... disappointing.
I've seen far worse movies. I wouldn't even say this was a bad movie. I just didn't dig it.

I actually found myself frequently bored by the movie, and I really disliked a lot of the character designs. I liked Jack and his whole backstory, though is there anyone who didn't catch on from the very beginning that "fun" was his thing? How oblivious is he? (and Santa, and everyone else).

lol, that would be me. I didn't know "fun" could be a core. Well, I didn't really put too much thought into the core business anyway, but I suppose it is clear to others.

[Zero_Cool]

I was shocked on how much I enjoyed this movie. I expected this to be awful. I saw it in 3D but it was not that great. The opening was the best for 3D with all the snow. Not much of a fan of Dreamworks movies. Don't think this need a 150 million budget.

[ahossein79]

Really good movie, I think this is one of the more underrated animated movies in recent memory, I am glad this movie is still holding it's own box office wise after getting off to a slow start, I don't think that is going to save this film from being a box office disappointment though, but I hope the word gets out that this is a great film which is entertaining and has a lot of meaning

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by EricJ

A nice change from DW's usual money-name taste of putting Jack Black in KFP, Will Ferrell in Megamind, or Ben Stiller in Madagascar 1-7 up there to do their one Self-Delusional Legend-in-Their-Own-Minds Loser shtick, that we never know whether we're supposed to laugh at or root for, and the movies never seem to know which side of the fence they're on either.

Well, I know your mind is set about Dreamworks most of the time, but I do see some of your points about the stories and characters. And you're right, they're really stepping things up with the 3D.

Even so, Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2 are great in my opinion, Jack Black as Po, included. In the end, it really boils down to opinions, whether by critics or audiences, no matter how many flaws the story or characters might have. Antz is another great movie from Dreamworks IMO.

Rise of the Guardians was good, though I'll have to watch it again to be sure.

Originally Posted by Bk_Tan

More people should give this a chance.

They overlooked Arthur Christmas last year already.

Arthur Christmas I was considering in theaters last year, but in the previews, I didn't know they had a sci-fi element involved with Santa's

[Show spoiler]UFO ship. If I knew that, I would have checked it out for certain.

Will get it on Blu Ray 3D when it hits 20$.

Originally Posted by Monkey

Great movie. A shame something like Brave gets far more attention. This and Wreck It Ralph are top notch for CGI movies.

I didn't go in much with much expectations but this movie is fantastic! Great art direction, character designs, imaginative worlds and a story the was really well done. I cared about the characters quite a bit.

Yes, Wreck it Ralph was good, as well as Rise of the Guardians. ROTG's has strong 3D, WIR with good 3D. WIRalph has a really nice twist though that saved the movie for me just as I was losing interest.

Jack Frost in ROTG's was a good, well rounded character, played by Chris Pine (Star Trek) with a nice character development arch

[Show spoiler]from somewhat evil and aimless, to finding his purpose

.