Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

I watched the Legend of the Guardians the other day and rather liked it. Our tale follows two brothers, Soren and Kludd. Soren is an earnest owl who personifies hope. Kludd is more grounded and is ambitious. The pair are kidnapped from there hollow and brought to the dark realm of Metal Beak where they can either join the overlords or become slaves. Kludd goes with overlords and Soren to the slaves. Soren soon escapes with another owl. Though Kludd has long said that the Guardians were nothing but a myth, Soren sets out to find them. On the way, he recruits more to his band. Of course, there was Gylfie, a tiny desert owl with whom he escaped. Then there's Digger, an owl with a penchant for digging. Next there's Twilight, a huge owl that thinks of himself as poet and musician. Lastly there's Miss P, a snake.

It goes without saying that Soren and gang find the Guardians and convince them to take action against Metal Beak. It wouldn't be epic if our heroes didn't prove decisive in the climactic battle. Could it be that Kludd and Soren face each other in a battle of Good vs. Evil? Yes, it could be.

The CGI is excellent and the story is fun.

 

I watched this Zach Snyder film in late December 2010.  Looking at IMDb, it had some impressive actors providing voices to the birds.  Joel Edgerton (Metal Beak), Helen Mirren, Sam Neill (Allomere), Geoffrey Rush (Ezylryb), and Hugo Weaving.  Geoffrey Rush was particularly impressive as lawyerly and diminutive owl who proves to be the most famous of the Guardians, such that Soren expected him to be a giant owl.

300

Though the movie depicts historic events almost exactly as they didn't happen, for once I don't mind.  The movie isn't meant to be historic and the liberties are willingly overlooked.  On March 31, 2007, I provided my take on 300:

Though based on the historic Battle of Thermopylae, the movie feels more like a particularly violent D&D adventure, complete with some bizarre monsters. Our heroes - the 300 Spartans - dress in much the same fashion as all female characters or Conan; nothing but a loin cloth. It starts out easy as the Persian Emperor sends wave after wave of 1st level goons to die on the spears of the high level party. Then the named monsters start to arrive. There are the Immortals who wear silver masks that cover dessicated faces, the Frankenstien monster who kills a Persian in order to arm himself, an armored Rhino, some elephants almost as big as the ones seen in Lord of the Rings, and even an executioner who seems to have bone swords instead of arms. The movie is most entertaining and highly recommended. It makes me want to run a Greek campaign.

 

Here is the movie that made Gerard Butler a star and launched Zach Snyder's directorial career into the stratosphere.  The movie is ludicrous from start to finish, describing a fantastical and bizarre ancient world that merely borrows some plotlines from historical events.  However, the names were not changed to protect the innocent.