Executive produced by Guillermo del Toro, Rise of the Guardians is based on The Guardians of Childhood, a series of books by William Joyce. The screenplay adaptation was penned by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Oz: The Great and Powerful and Sam Raimi's aborted Spider-Man 4).
The heroes of the story are essentially the Avengers of holiday and childhood icons: Santa Claus, aka North (voiced by Alec Baldwin); Easter Bunny, aka Bunnymund (Hugh Jackman); Tooth Fairy, aka Tooth (Isla Fisher); and the Sandman , aka Sandy (he's silent). They are charged with safeguarding the hopes, beliefs and imagination of kids the world over. The less that children believe in them, the more the Guardians' very existence is threatened.
Now their biggest threat has manifested: The Boogeyman, aka Pitch (voiced by Jude Law), a shadowy specter of fear and evil bent on world conquest. In order to combat this grave menace, the Guardians need to enlist another member, the reluctant and wayward Jack Frost (Pine).
We were shown two sequences from the film as well as the new 3D trailer, which will debut in April. (Yes, Rise of the Guardians will be in 3D.) The first scene we were shown was the very opening of the film, which chronicles the "birth" of Jack Frost. He awakens in the darkness of deep, cold water as his body floats towards the frozen surface. Jack's narration tells us the first thing he ever saw was the moon shining big and bright through the ice as he rose to the surface. He "hears" the Man in the Moon speaking to him (although we don't) so this is how Jack knows who he is.
Jack discovers his powers as he manipulates the wintry elements of ice, snow and wind, the latter of which allows him to hover and fly. He uses a staff as a sort of a magic wand to spread frost on trees or the ground. As he surveys his wooded surroundings from on high, he notices a rural village (this is set in the 19th century). He pays them a visit, but is quickly dismayed to find that the inhabitants simply walk through him like a ghost through a wall. He is merely a spirit to them and they are completely unaware of him.
You see, unlike Santa, the Easter Bunny or even the Boogeyman, no one believes in Jack Frost. He's essentially alone, so he uses his powers to be a mischief maker. Ever have your water pipes freeze or your windshield covered in ice in the morning? That was Jack. Now, 300 years later, the Guardians need Jack's help in battling Pitch, but does Jack need them? He's certainly reluctant at first, so that's why North had his Yeti henchmen essentially kidnap/rendition Jack to his North Pole headquarters.
Jack meets North, Tooth, Sandy and Bunnymund. Each of these holiday/childhood icons have been reimagined for this film. North is a bear of a man, "a Hell's Angel with a heart of gold" as the director put it. Thanks to Baldwin's rich, Russian accent and his shaggy white beard and long hair, North looks and sounds a lot like actor Rade Serbedzija (The Saint, Eyes Wide Shut, the homeless guy Bruce gives his coat to in Batman Begins). Oh, and North also has "naughty" tattooed on one forearm and "nice" on the other. In addition to elves, North's underlings include Yetis; with their hair up in top knots and long mustaches, the Yetis' faces kind of look like shih tzu show dogs but with the bodies of Wookies.
Like Santa, the Easter Bunny is also reconceived here as more of a warrior type. As voiced by Jackman, the Aussie-accented Bunnymund is like a cross between Usagi Yojimbo and a kangaroo (although don't call him that as Jack finds out). He creates magical wormhole-like tunnels that allow him to travel around the world. Tooth looks like a multi-colored hummingbird crossed with a faerie; she is surrounded by a cluster of mini-fairies and is fascinated by Jack's pearly whites. Sandy is a small, squat tan/gold figure who can conjure various images and shapes from his magic sand.
This second sequence ended with North summoning his sleigh, an automated carriage pulled by huge reindeer. When the sleigh takes off, it's like a NASA shuttle launch crossed with a rollercoaster ride as it barrels down an icy, curving tunnel before being flying into the night sky. The temp tracks used included snippets from Danny Elfman's Batman score and Michael Giacchino's Star Trek theme.
The Rise of the Guardians preview was pretty cool overall, more so than you might expect from its premise. It also had a darker, more adult fantasy lit tinge, even though it's still ostensibly a children's movie. The 15 minutes we screened today definitely whet our appetite to see more of it.
Rise of the Guardians opens Nov. 21, 2012.