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davidahallnum5
Mar 18, 20238 min read

Rise of the Guardians 3D Blu-ray Review

Updated: Apr 8, 2023

Rise of the Guardians is a 2012 animated film by Dreamworks. In the world of beings such as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman, Rise of the Guardians follows a man called Jack Frost who wakes up one morning capable of manipulating ice and snow, but with the caveat of being invisible to the physical world. However, when a dark threat arises that begins to diminish not only the children's belief in these mystical creatures, but their dreams and hope, Jack Frost gets called on to become a "Guardian" alongside Santa and co. and stop it. But along the way, Jack continues to try to find who he is, what his past is, and who he is meant to be.

Rise of the Guardians is one of the more relatively obscure outputs in the Dreamworks catalog. But with the likes of Live Die Repeat and Pacific Rim, that doesn't prevent it from being a good movie. It doesn't quite have as much to offer as something like How to Train Your Dragon. But the themes, creativity, and characters all contribute to the film in very unique ways that make it quite underrated.

For starters, the world building and technical mechanics of the film are definitely a lot of fun. While its true other films have delved into the same kinds of source material Guardians does, the movie handles it in a way that feels fresh and stylistic. And it pours over into the visuals, the creative designs, the interactions between the characters, and the stories behind them. The vocal performance by Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, and Chris Pine all nail the tone of the film perfectly, not because the embody themselves, but because they embody the characters they play. It's a situation in which unless you were told ahead of time, you probably couldn't recognize the voices (though it does make you wonder what happened to Baldwin to make him go from here to The Boss Baby). The films also goes for the darker fantasy side of things instead of the fairy tale version you were told of as a kid, Under the wrong circumstances, it could just feel like another stale attempt to appeal to the older audience. But the movie embraces the idea with some genuine inspiration and has fun with it. It knows how to amplify the scale and stakes of our main protagonists and their mission but also not forget to have a sense of humor about itself.

But of course, all these aspects could easily feel a bit all for naught without a good story. However, Guardians not only works here, but succeeds best in this category. And I'll try my best not to delve into deep spoilers here. We follow Jack Frost who suffers from an identity crisis for hundreds of years. That sentence might seem like something from a bland fairy tale movie from the mid-2000s. But Guardians actually creates a pretty interesting backstory for our protagonist and builds on it as the story continues. It makes the story very engaging from beginning to end. And while the villain is already fascinating enough in his own right, his dynamic with our main character makes the plot that much more captivating. The result, one of the most underrated and surprisingly creative origin stories for Jack Frost. That aspect alone makes Rise of the Guardians an underrated film.

All the praise out of the way, there still are a couple of things to nitpick with it. While true, the story itself is told in a fast-paced and entertaining way, and the world-building is pretty unique. However, it's also somewhat because of those elements I can certainly see it not really being a full on crowd pleaser. The film gets pretty far giving out exposition and important plot details without sacrificing entertainment value. But there are times when I did feel that anyone of a lesser age, or a parent might get slightly bored of the fact that this is still a rendition of stuff we've seen before with Santa, Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy, and etc. Besides that, some of the dialogue could've also stood to have been tweaked in a few places. And the designs with the human children do seem a bit off to some degree. But these are all pretty relatively minor things and don't make the film any means bad, just slightly below the greatest and most notable Dreamworks features.

Still, for those of you who are willing to give this one a watch, there's lots to enjoy about Rise of the Guardians. From the impressive visuals to the musical score to the grand scale to the action to the inspired story of Jack Frost, you're almost guaranteed to have a good time, with or without kids to have it with. Personally, I wished the film had more exploration of its fantastical world. But if anything, that's probably a compliment. This film certainly leaves room for the creators to have lots of creative fun with its fairy tale material. And it's a bit of a shame the film didn't quite become the big hit it was aiming to be because it prevented them from doing even more with it. Fortunately, they did release a book sequel, so I guess it's not a total loss.


OVERALL FILM RATING: 4/5



3D and Dreamworks go together like chips and dip. Their long and successful run of 3D films started with Monsters vs. Aliens in 2009 and they haven't let up since, not even a hiccup. Rise of the Guardians is no exception to how the company consistently utilizes the technology to create a memorable and engaging experience superior to the film's 2D version. While I wouldn't exactly put the presentation on display here with the likes of How to Train Your Dragon or the 3D conversion of Kung Fu Panda, it is by any animated film standards, top notch 3D.

Like I said before, Rise of the Guardians is a very stylized movie with creativity oozing out into its visuals. It'd be a shame if the 3D didn't bring it out any of that creativity. Thankfully, it does, and it does well. Every aspect of the film from the characters, the places they inhabit, and the powers they use all look natural in 3D. You can feel the large Santa moving across the room, the tooth fairy flying around, and Jack Frost creating ice wherever he is. And from Santa's factory, the Easter Bunny's burrows, wide fields of trees and Easter eggs, ice filled valleys, sleigh rides in the sky, and even cityscapes, there's seldom a scene without proper depth. While the image is never quite as deep as the film Legend of the Guardians, it's never shallow and it's always consistent. Some shots make you feel as if you can see for miles in different directions and others immerse you in the intimate locations. Either way, you can bet the work in the screen will not disappoint.

But still, the depth on display would feel useless if the film didn't have fun with it. And Rise of the Guardians has an ample amount of fun with the 3D. Some of the most notable examples of this involve the Sandman's streams of sand flying through the sky whether they're entering a child's bedroom giving them dreams or being used to battle Pitch. The shape and length of these streams are mesmerizing with the 3D added. The same could also be said about Pitch and his similar nightmare streams, but being how their black, they tend to fight against the 3D. Still, the 3D is well-handled here enough that even the dark elements of the frame still hold shape and size. Besides that, we also get the tooth fairy and her fairies flying around the screen in 3D space. Little elves take up the frame in a few shots. And there are even several great sweeping shots through cities and towns.

Other great examples of 3D usage involves Jack Frost and his ice. Jack tends to fly through the sky quite a bit, and it leads to some interesting roller coaster like segments, especially near the beginning when a kid is sledding and to prevent the child from being harmed, he has to fly fast through the town and lay down ice with his staff on the streets. While these aren't quite as impressive as scenes in something like The Polar Express, you can't say the creators aren't using the 3D the best way they know how. Similar roller coaster segments occur with other characters when they're either traveling on Santa's sleigh through an ice tunnel or falling down the Easter Bunny's burrow. Ice also lends itself very well to 3D and there are plenty of shots that utilize it well. The action involves ice blasts that work almost like laser guns in Star Wars. But the composition of ice in several shots make for some great views. One in particular features a top down view of an icy structure with spikes sticking out of it. And in one scene, we see Jack looking at his reflection in a piece of ice. That makes a nice use of 3D not just from a visual standpoint, but a story standpoint as well.

As for pop outs, Rise of the Guardians doesn't disappoint. They range from subtle such as with streams of sand or characters faces to gimmicky with people drawing out swords and Jack Frost aiming his staff out of the screen. But non the less, we get everything from characters' hands, heads, kids and reindeer coming at you, ice blasts, fairies, elves, boomerangs, snow, ice structures, to even the title of the movie at the beginning and the end of the film. But probably the best pop out of the film has to do with two shots involving snowflakes that pop out so much you'll believe they're in you face.

Being as Rise of the Guardians is an often overlooked film, its 3D version has also become often overlooked. And true, it's probably not one of the best 3D Blu-ray's you're ever going to find. But that isn't because the presentation is by any means bad, but because nowadays, the 3D bar has been set incredibly high with films like Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon. But it's still a valiant effort by Dreamworks to deliver a top-notch 3D experience that succeeds in pretty much every regard. With its settings, scales, and action sequences, the film has much to offer in the third dimension, much so than the 2D version. Is it a film that's ruined if watched in 2D? No. But is it a much better movie well worth the asking price of a 3D Blu-ray? Absolutely.


3D RATING: GREAT


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FINAL THOUGHTS


Rise of the Guardians may not be a masterpiece by any means. But the way it puts a new, interesting, and fascinating look on fairy tale creatures, especially Jack Frost, and gives it a good story to go along with it makes it something well worth watching for anyone who enjoys animated movies, be it a kid or not. Sadly, the creativity on display here never fully recognized at the box office nor at home. That doesn't mean that it doesn't come recommended from The 3D Dinosaur, though. And if you plan to pick it up, the 3D version is also certainly the way to go. With everything from depth to pop outs to magic to action to surreal set pieces, Rise of the Guardians shines in the third dimension and remains one of the better 3D films currently out on the market. What more can I say? Dreamworks has done it again.




DID YOU LIKE "RISE OF THE GUARDIANS" IN 3D

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