Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is a film that really surprised me. I should have disliked it immensely- I haven’t really enjoyed an animated movie since Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, find the new 3D upheaval an unnecessary annoyance and above all I can’t stand Zack Snyder. Snyder is the poster boy for style over substance; 300 looked and felt as needlessly portentous as a feature length Tool video and Watchmen was an admittedly spectacular failure. Here though, his knack for eye-popping visuals is married to a simple yet effectively told tale of good and evil that has its heart in the right place.
The story begins when young owlet brothers, Soren and Kludd are kidnapped from their woodland home by an owl sect ruled over by the evil Metalbeak and his mate Nyra. The brothers become separated and while Soren makes his escape and searches for the help of the legendary Guardians, Kludd goes over to the dark side leading to a bad case of sibling rivalry. Admittedly it doesn’t sound much but there is some lovely voice acting from a great cast of predominantly English and Australian actors including Jim Sturgess, Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving and Sam Neill, helping bring the characters to life.
The film is also beautifully animated by Animal Logic (Happy Feet); the owls are pleasingly feathery and the environments have real texture and depth, with a little more darkness than is traditional for a children’s film. In fact, there are echoes of the Lord of the Rings films in both the story and the look of the film- in the battle armoury of the owl soldiers and the fiery landscape of Metalbeak’s layer that recalls Mordor. Snyder meanwhile excellently manipulates the action. You can still see elements of his distinctive style in the battle sequences as he plays with the speed, deploying super slo-mo at key moments. For the first time, this tinkering feels natural and unselfconscious, resulting in some fantastic edge of the seat action.
Who could have guessed that Snyder would finally manage to pull off style and heart in a children’s movie about some plucky owls? A pleasant surprise indeed.