Legend of the Guardians
(Voices of James Sturgis, Geoffrey Rush, Helen Mirren, Hugo Weaving)
This beautiful, animated epic may be based on a teen novel about warring owls, but it expertly recalls epics like Watership Down and Lord of the Rings. The film’s tone and delivery reinforce scholar Joseph Campbell’s teachings on the creation of meaningful mythology for modern audiences.
Sorin (Sturgis) is a young owl just learning to fly who is captivated by his father’s fables of legendary avian guardians. The brave little bird and his angry brother are kidnapped and forced to work for an evil empire of rogue warriors. This evil flock is planning a war, and Sorin decides he must escape and find his father’s folktale heroes so they can save all owldom.
Guardians recalls other great modern myths, but it also references Homer’s Odyssey as well as Cain and Abel from the Bible. The animation is amazing. The character rendering is detailed, the scenic work is painterly, and the lighting is dramatic. Director Zach Snyder (300, The Watchman) has created a new world that feels timeless.
Bran Nu Dae
(Starring Geoffrey Rush, Rocky McKenzie)
Even with its slapstick start and choppy editing, there is something infectious about this Aboriginal musical. Credit the catchy tunes, generous intent and bubbly Bollywood approach.
McKenzie is a young Aboriginal in Western Australia in the late 1960s. His religious mother has sent him to a Catholic school to become a priest. But McKenzie—who studies under creepy German priest Rush—decides he would rather be free to date a pretty local girl. So he hitchhikes with a hobo and a couple hippies to get back to his girlfriend.
The late 60s were vital times for the indigenous people; they were just organizing after nearly two centuries of oppression (akin to what our Native Americans suffered). For the Aboriginals, the Catholic Church was part of that subjugation. Bran Nu Dae almost loses these historical facts amidst choppy editing and poppy musical numbers. However, this flick’s spirit shines through, and the visuals have panache. For an hour and a half, you can forgive the goofiness and enjoy this tuneful ride.
Alpha and Omega
(Voices of Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere)
This kiddy flick is alpha in that it’s a simplistic distraction for two-year-olds. It’s also omega in that it’s the last film any adult will want to sit through.
According to this underdeveloped tale, wolves divide themselves up into two groups: hunters and comedians. A sexy alpha dog (Panettiere) and a goofy omega (Long) get tranquilized together and sent to procreate in a park 1500 miles away from their home. The canines recruit some golf-playing geese to help them get home before wolf war breaks out. Also, of course, the couple falls in love.
What’s wrong with this? The story is clichéd and pedestrian. The humor is infantile. The arbitrary division into groups of warriors and comics makes no sense whatsoever. Wolf howls turn into R&B crooning. The scenic animation is nice, but the character work is clumsy and poorly executed; wolves are hairy creatures, but this hair is inelegant and blocky. In fact this whole film is also inelegant and blocky
The Town
(Starring Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Chris Cooper)
Affleck is proving himself a very adept director, both with Gone Baby Gone and this second outing. The Town, which he co-wrote, is a skillfully-paced entry into the cops-and-robbers milieu.
Affleck and the roguish Renner are childhood friends who, as adults, have become legendary masked bank robbers in crime-rich Charlestown. (Growing up around Boston, Affleck has the culture down pat.) At one robbery, they take Hall as a hostage. Affleck later has to ascertain if she’s got any information for FBI agent Hamm. Affleck and Hall fall in love, and the thief longs to leave this dangerous business. But there is one last hit at Fenway Park, the impressive and cinematic home of the Red Sox.
The script has a few too many ostentatious “Oscar” monologues—an Affleck staple—but the movie otherwise aspires to no more than a well-made example of the heist genre. As in all shoot-‘em-ups, some characters in The Town remain underdeveloped. Still, this deftly executed project ads fuel to Affleck’s future as a consistently talented filmmaker.
