Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012) is a stunning disappointment, with little substance, no character.

Rise of the Guardians

2012
97 minutes
rated PG

by Scott Mendelson

Rise of the Guardians is an astonishing exercise in generic storytelling, with so little new to bring to the narrative plate that even a morsel of good ideas can't save it from tedium.  I can't speak to the source material, but the film amounts to a high concept idea ("What if the various holiday mascots formed a superhero group?") where no more imagination was offered after the initial pitch.  The story is basically a Mad Libs team-superhero origin story, where we follow a new recruit into a new world and learn the mythology through his eyes.  That the story shamefully rips off the first X-Men is less of a problem than the heroic cohorts having almost no discernible characteristics beyond their costumes and holiday-related duties.  With paper-thin characterization and no real surprises in the offering, Rise of the Guardians amounts to a mostly dull effort that diminishes both big-budget animation and superhero stories at the same time.

Rock of Ages gets a poster that advertises its insignificance.

Not much to comment on.  The film looks patently silly and may be quite terrible, but it's among the ones I most want to see this summer.  The cast is top-notch and Adam Shankman's Hairspray is my personal favorite screen musical of the post-Moulin Rouge era.  I don't presume this will be *good* (the trailers seem weirdly off, even in terms of simple lighting), but I'm presuming this will be awfully fun.  This one drops on June 15th, so as always, we'll see.  But even if it's "nothin' but a good time', that should be enough.  Anyway, the second trailer is embedded below after the jump.

Scott Mendelson

Rock of Ages gets a 'bangin' trailer... My wife is going to want to see this one.

Oddly enough, it's Alec Baldwin that feels the most mannered in this star-filled version of the 80s-rock homage musical from 2006.  The trailer wisely hides the main attraction, which is seeing Tom Cruise as a stereotypical 80s rock star, until the very end of the spot.  The cast looks impressive, and kudos to New Line Cinema for not hiding the fact that this is actually a musical (it's subtle, but there are at least two shots of characters actually signing out loud).  I happen to think that Hairspray is the best film musical of the modern era (sorry, didn't like Moulin Rouge and Chicago is painfully overrated), so Adam Shankman helming this one puts it pretty high on the list.  Rock of Ages will be released on June 1st, 2012.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson