Written by Janet Orgain
I am all about taking a book to the big screen. I love a good fantasy epic fraught with noble heroes and evil villains taken straight from the pages of our favorite paperbacks. “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Chronicles of Narnia” have all been major hits in the hearts of viewers. However, “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” might have stretched the book-to-movie transition too far.Taken from Kathryn Lasky’s book series and directed by Zach Snyder, “Legend of the Guardians” is a classic good-versus-evil story, except with owls. Owl brothers Soren, voiced by Jim Sturgess, and Kludd, voiced by Ryan Kwanten, are abducted from their home by the evil “Pure Ones” and are taken to a boot camp for fascist, power-hungry owls preparing to conquer the owl world. Soren escapes, while Kludd chooses to become a “Pure One.” Soren and friends fly to the tree of Ga’Hoole to find the legendary owl guardians. Together, they battle the evil regime to a swashbuckling ending of brother versus brother.The quality of filmmaking was remarkable. While in the theater, the audience does not have a chance to think about the movie being unrealistic in detail and design. The visual clarity of characters and settings was simply stunning. The storyline, however, was not quite as clear as the picture.”Legend of the Guardians” gives too much information in too little time. The audience barely has a chance to meet the characters before they have played their part and exited the screen. We had whiplash just trying to follow faces through the fast-paced plot.Although the film is a children’s story, the action involved in battle scenes is anything but vague. Armored faceplates and 6-inch spears adorn the soldiering owls while they literally impale each other in midair. Although no blood is seen, the violence is enough to spur nightmares in younger viewers. Yet, the story is not intriguing enough to enthrall an adult audience either. The screenwriters and directors seem to have tried to reach both audiences, yet missed somewhere in the middle.Aside from the violent battle scenes, “Legend of the Guardians” is a clean film, upholding the nobility of what is right and scorning the shame of evil. However, I am not sure just “hoo” is the most appropriate audience.
