Family Movie Night: Rise of the Guardians

Every Saturday we will be sharing with you our ideas for family movie nights. Movie reviews and fun theme night ideas.

Our Super-Cool-Fab Review Team...

Our crack team of expert Movie Reviewers are this week reviewing Rise of the Guardians.

We first saw Rise of the Guardians back in January when it was first released in cinemas. We'd seen the trailers and thought it looks like the kind of movie we could all enjoy as a family. A friend had told me she thought I'd enjoy it because it had great "morals" (as in deeper meaning, allegory).
She was not wrong.
Though on the surface this film looks like just another animated kids hero movie, all the way through it I got little rushes of goosebumps as I spotted truths embedded in the story. I'm funny like that. (Goosebumps, from a cartoon. Yay me.)
So when the movie was release on DVD, we added to our Fatso Queue, never expecting it would turn up so soon.
What a nice surprise when we opened our packet and there it was. Rise of the Guardians. Perfect for a cosy goosebumpy family movie night... served with "deep and meaningfuls" on the side...

[source]

Movie Plot Summary: Jack Frost doesn't know who he is or why he is. He stares up at the Man in the Moon and wonders, "Why am I here? What am I for?"
Meanwhile in the North Pole a very cool Russian edition of Santa Claus sees a shadow from an old nightmare, warning him of darkness to come. The BoogeyMan is bummed out that nobody believes in him anymore (since the end of his heyday in the Dark Ages), and he wants to change all that. He wants to be believed in and feared again. He has a plan.

Santa calls the Guardians of Childhood together and as he tells them he's seen the BoogeyMan, the Man in the Moon shines through the window. He shows them that to face this new/old threat they need the help of a brand new Guardian - none other than the outcast, Jack Frost.

As the movie unfolds we learn that each of the Guardians has a special role to play in guarding children and childhood. Santa Claus guards "wide-eyed Wonder"; the (Australian) Easter Bunny guards "Hope"; the Tooth Fairy is the keeper and guardian of "Memories" (she collects memories along with the teeth) and the SandMan is Guardian of children's Dreams. This role comes from their "centre" - who they really are at heart reveals what their purpose is.

As The Boogeyman begins turning children's dreams into nightmares and extinguishing belief with fear, it is up to Jack to figure out who he is at his centre and why the Man in the Moon chose him.

See why I got goosebumps? Oh, and it's funny and cute too.

RATED [PG]

Here's what our experts have to say about Rise of the Guardians.

Dash. B. Cool: "I liked the fighting and it's a good family movie. The Santa Claus guy was pretty funny. I think this is a good one for family movie nights."

Dash scores this movie's "coolness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥ (that's 3½)

Foxy Fab: "It was funny. My favourite character was SandMan, cos he was funny and interesting. I think everybody would like this movie, it's really cool."

Foxy rates this movie's "fabness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

Super Scrag: "It was sad when SandMan died. I liked about it that bit at the end when people didn't believe in the BoogeyMan. I liked this movie a lot."

SuperScrag scores this movie's "super-ness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

..............

All together I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to you for all but the very youngest and most sensitive children (there are some sad moments where a beloved character "dies"; the BoogeyMan's Night Mares might also be a little scary for some.) OK, so it is a little cheesy in parts, it has probably been done before in some other form, but it has great potential for opening up conversation with your kids about knowing who they are and what they're about; it's got some good laughs along the way and a great thread of meaning running through it. Give it a try.

What are your favourite family movies? Send me an email or leave me a comment with your suggestions so we can check it out and feature it here.

Have a great Weekend!