I'm not usually a big fan of animal-starring 3D animation films so I was suprised to have enjoyed this one as much as I did. I was initially sceptical of a movie about owls but my friend's passion for them led me to join him in a screening; and I wasn't disappointed. As funny as it is action-packed, Legend of the Guradians is one of the rare, true examples of a film marketed for children that is equally, if not more, appealing to adults as well. Director Zack Snyder takes his lateral, sporadic slow-motion action style, made famous by 300 and Watchmen, and transposes it not only into the animation realm, but into the air as well, creating free-flowing battles between opposing feathered armies, the spectacle of which is the film's greatest strength. While the characters and narrative are inspired in themselves, where Legend really shines is in its visuals, the flying sequences being some of the most beautiful ones to show up in recent memory. Hard-put to come up with a title that has such convincing textures (the water in Surf's Up does come to mind though), I was blown away by the crispness of the images and (this always fascinates me) the human quality in the facial expressions that endow the owls with recognizably unique personalities. Legend of the Guardians is as majestic as it is engaging, the perfect vehicle for those looking to fly off and temporarily escape the grounded existence of human life.
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