Trailer Trashin’: Rise of the Guardians May Be Freaking Brilliant!

Hey, folks. We’re debuting a new feature here on CinemaNerdz called “Trailer Trashin’.” At least once a week, I’ll be taking a look at a hot new trailer and giving you my take on what looks good, what looks bad, and how excited I am for the upcoming movie in question. And to kick this feature off, I’m looking at the first trailer for the upcoming animated family film Rise of the Guardians.

Premise: The Guardians are a group of folklore characters – including Santa Claus (voice of Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (voice of Hugh Jackman), the Sandman (voice of Tom Kenny), and the Tooth Fairy (voice of Isla Fisher) – who use their powers to protect children all over the world. But when the Boogeyman (voice of Jude Law) reveals a plan to take over the world with his dark powers, the Guardians must unite to save the children from having their hopes, dreams, and imaginations consumed by fear.

My take: First off, how is it that a movie with this premise hasn’t been made until now? This idea of a Justice League/Avengers-type group of folklore characters is freaking brilliant! The trailer is structured much like one for a superhero film, with the first part introducing the heroes and their abilities, and from there showing us the villain and setting up the conflict. There’s also some nice variation in the pacing of the trailer, mainly ranging between slow, charming whimsical scenes and fast, staccato-paced action beats. It’s an interesting mix, and it works.

I absolutely love what I’ve seen and heard so far of the characters and voice cast. A sword-wielding Russian Santa Claus with “naughty” and “nice” tattooed on his arms? Awesome. An Easter Bunny with an Australian accent and the power to create tunnels in the ground? Sweet. A Sandman who’s essentially a magical version of Green Lantern? Nice. The Boogeyman looks like he’ll be suitably nightmarish, and it’s cool to see Jude Law playing a villain, which I don’t know if he’s done before.

Honestly, my only real complaint is the painfully generic title; I think sticking with The Guardians of Childhood, the title of the book series, would have been a much better choice.

But you know what I like the most about what I see here, why this is more appealing to me than pretty much any other DreamWorks Animation film? It’s played straight. There’s no cynicism or winking at the audience. No sign of pop culture references or going for the cheap joke. No self-awareness or taking shots at the premise. This is a trailer that boldly stands up and says “These things are completely ridiculous, and that’s why they’re awesome.”

ANTICIPATION: My inner child is jumping for joy, and I’m jumping with him.

Release Date: November 21st, 2012

Starring the voices of: Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Tom Kenny, Jude Law, and Dakota Goyo
Directors: Peter Ramsey and William Joyce
Writers: David Linsay-Abaire and William Joyce