Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole

• LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS:THE OWLS OF GA (DVD MOVIE)

Come along on the ultimate road-trip adventure that will leave the whole family howling with laughter! When Kate, a take-charge “Alpha” wolf, and Humphrey, a laid-back “Omega” wolf, get snatched by park rangers and relocated halfway across the country, the two must set off on an incredible journey home! With the help of a goofy golfing goose and his quacky duck caddy, Kate and Humphrey won’t let anything stop them â€" prickly porcupines, grumpy bears, even a speeding locomotive â€" from getting back to Jasper Park in time to help save their pack from rival wolves! And along the way, Kate and Humphrey learn that even though they are complete opposites, they make a pretty good team! It’s a thousand miles of fun in this wildly entertaining journey the whole pack can enjoy together!Love is blind to the rules of tradition, opposites at! tract, and both clichés apply quite nicely to the wolves in Alpha and Omega. In the wolf world, the pack values the omega wolves' skill of defusing tense situations with humor just as much as they value the keen leadership skills of the alpha wolves, but tradition dictates that alpha wolves don't mate with omega wolves. So, when the all-business alpha wolf Kate (Hayden Panettiere) and the fun-seeking omega wolf Humphrey (Justin Long) find themselves attracted to one another, the pair resign themselves to a life apart, and Kate agrees to a match with alpha male Garth (Chris Carmack) from a rival pack in order to peacefully merge the two packs into one. But when Humphrey and Kate are tranquilized in their home in Jasper National Forest, Canada, and relocated to Sawtooth Forest far away in Idaho, the two discover that not only can opposites work very well together, but that neither of them can continue to ignore their attraction for the other. The question is, will w! orking together, combined with a little help from a golf-playi! ng goose and his duck caddy, be enough to get the pair all the way back to Jasper National Park before the rival wolf packs tear one another apart at the next full moon? And what will become of their relationship if they do return in time? This animated film is amusing and entertaining, if not particularly outstanding. A lot of the humor is pretty corny and the plot has been done many times before (think Open Season 2), but the characters are likable, the action is pretty good, and who can resist chuckling at images like a retired, golf-playing French-Canadian goose or the distractive powers of a good cupcake? (Ages 5 and older) --Tami HoriuchiCome along on the ultimate road-trip adventure that will leave the whole family howling with laughter! When Kate, a take-charge “Alpha” wolf, and Humphrey, a laid-back “Omega” wolf, get snatched by park rangers and relocated halfway across the country, the two must set off on an incredible journey home! With the help ! of a goofy golfing goose and his quacky duck caddy, Kate and Humphrey won’t let anything stop them â€" prickly porcupines, grumpy bears, even a speeding locomotive â€" from getting back to Jasper Park in time to help save their pack from rival wolves! And along the way, Kate and Humphrey learn that even though they are complete opposites, they make a pretty good team! It’s a thousand miles of fun in this wildly entertaining journey the whole pack can enjoy together!Love is blind to the rules of tradition, opposites attract, and both clichés apply quite nicely to the wolves in Alpha and Omega. In the wolf world, the pack values the omega wolves' skill of defusing tense situations with humor just as much as they value the keen leadership skills of the alpha wolves, but tradition dictates that alpha wolves don't mate with omega wolves. So, when the all-business alpha wolf Kate (Hayden Panettiere) and the fun-seeking omega wolf Humphrey (Justin Long) find themselves! attracted to one another, the pair resign themselves to a lif! e apart, and Kate agrees to a match with alpha male Garth (Chris Carmack) from a rival pack in order to peacefully merge the two packs into one. But when Humphrey and Kate are tranquilized in their home in Jasper National Forest, Canada, and relocated to Sawtooth Forest far away in Idaho, the two discover that not only can opposites work very well together, but that neither of them can continue to ignore their attraction for the other. The question is, will working together, combined with a little help from a golf-playing goose and his duck caddy, be enough to get the pair all the way back to Jasper National Park before the rival wolf packs tear one another apart at the next full moon? And what will become of their relationship if they do return in time? This animated 3-D film is amusing and entertaining, if not particularly outstanding. A lot of the humor is pretty corny and the plot has been done many times before (think Open Season 2), but the characters are likable, the a! ction is pretty good, and who can resist chuckling at images like a retired, golf-playing French-Canadian goose or the distractive powers of a good cupcake? (Ages 5 and older) --Tami HoriuchiTwo young wolves at opposite ends of their pack's social order are thrown together into a foreign land and need each other to return home, but love complicates everything. Directors: Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck Writers: Chris Denk (screenplay), Ben Gluck (story), and 1 more credit » Stars: Hayden Panettiere, Christina Ricci and Justin Long

Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, "always enchants her readers." (Lynn Viehl, New York Times bestselling author) Now her Alpha and Omega series-set in a world of shifting shapes, loyalty, and passion- brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could make the hunters prey...

They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...

Acclaimed filmmaker Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) makes his animation debut with this fantasy adventure based on the beloved books by Kathryn Lasky. Young owl Soren marvels at his father's epic stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, mythic winged warriors who fought a great battle to save all owl kind from the evil Pure Ones. When he and brother Kludd fall from their treetop home and into the talons of the Pure Ones, it's up to Soren to make a daring escape with the help of other brave owls. Together they seek the Great Tree, home of the Guardians--the only hope of defeating the Pure Ones and saving the owl kingdoms. The stellar voice cast includes Abb! ie Cornish, Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Geoffre! y Rush, Jim Sturgess and Hugo Weaving.Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, 300 director Zack Snyder's debut animated feature, is based on Kathryn Lasky's juvenile novel series Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Soren (voice by Jim Sturgess), a young owl, has grown up listening to his father's stories about the Guardians, a legendary band of heroes who fought to keep owldom free. But when he and his jealous older brother Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) are kidnapped, Soren learns the evil Pure Ones are once again plotting to enslave owlkind. Escaping from their clutches, he and a typically mismatched group of friends set out to find the Guardians, the only owls capable of defeating the Pure Ones. The first feature from the Animal Logic studio since the Oscar-winning Happy Feet, Legend of the Guardians quickly degenerates into an unsatisfying muddle of elements borrowed from Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and The Lion King. The storytelling borde! rs on the inept: The Pure Ones are using bats to create some sort of blue electricity that paralyzes owls, but no one ever explains what it is, how it works, or why the bats created it. The first battle between the Pure Ones and Guardians is presented as an ancient myth, yet many of the participants are still alive. Soren and his friends look up at the stars to navigate their way to the Guardians' island, but when the camera pans down to them flying, the sky is the blue of a summer afternoon. The vocal cast includes Helen Mirren, Miriam Margolyes, and Geoffrey Rush, who somehow manage to read hokey lines like "listen to your gizzard" without snickering. Despite Snyder's elaborate use of swooping 3-D pan shots to energize the visuals, the film feels achingly slow at 91 minutes. Too scary for small children and too clichéd for their older siblings and parents, Legend of the Guardians ranks among 2010's most disappointing animated films. (Rated PG, but suitable for age! s 9 and older: considerable violence and grotesque imagery) --Charl es Solomon

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