You know how ecstatic I felt? But I did not watch it during the opening. Hehe I was fortunate enough that I have a job now and got money to spend. And by the way! I treated my mother as well, as a post-birthday present.
So there I was, in a 3D cinema of Ayala malls, watching as the legends of the owls unfold. And as I watched Soren--the main barn owl character--realize and make real the myths of the Guardians of Ga'hoole, I myself realize that all was unfolding, "all too fast!"
Yep, the plot is that Soren, as a "teen" owl has heard from his father the legends of the guardians that brought light during dark times. Him and his "baby" sister love the stories well, but more than that, in his heart, he believes that the guardians are real! Until one day, he and his brother, Klud, was kidnapped by a group of owls. These owls turned out to be the "pure ones" or Tytos, who was the evil group of owls in the myths. During their captivity, Soren meets elf owl Gylfie.
Then Soren and Gylfie escaped through the help of Borreal, their own captor. They have to find Guardians of Ga'hoole to save the Owl Kingdom from destruction. Kludd did not come with them, he was influenced by the ways of the Tytos.
Then Soren and Gylfie met burrowing owl Digger and great gray owl Twilight. Soren caught up with Mrs. Plithiver, her nanny too. All took the journey towards the great open sea to reach the Great Tree where the guardians live.
Then all of the sudden, the long journey--that was so much highlighted on the trailers--came to end! They were close to giving up when suddenly, the guardians came to their rescue. Soren, found the Tree, and the guardians.
Time passes by and all of a sudden, Soren was fighting with the Tytos, and the one saving the guardians! His fight with his brother in which an accident--not Soren--will kill Kludd. He also defeated the King of Tytos.
The movie ends with Soren, of course, as the hero! Hooray!
I do hope that my plot made sense. I really tried not to make it so much of a spoiler.
But I have more bad things to say, rather than good. Awww!
It's just that I thought that the story went too fast. It was not developed in a way that the audience will get to the edge of their seats as they wait for the peak to arrive. And to literally fall on their seat as they watch the climax. It was like walking trough a flat plane all throughout. It was always the same level of emotion, whether during the "cute" periods, the long "journey," the "fight" scenes. The only time that i get to WHOA is during the mighty intervention of 3D effects.
See, the 90-minuter something film is not enough to say, portray the book itself. Yes, the film is based on a series of novels by Kathryn Lasky. Though I have not read the book, I still feel that it was TOO short. Like for example, the long journey towards the Great Tree could have been detailed more in a way that the audience really felt the desperateness, the hopelessness, the giving up on the belief that the guardians are true, but Soren will be able to keep his team believing, pushing them closer to their goal. I am quite sure it's like this in the book.
Also, the battle between good and evil should have been blown up a little more. I also felt like the main battle came without warning.
I really wanted the film to be worth it's cost, and more importantly worth the anticipation and the excitement I felt over it. I was saying repeatedly over myself that "there must be more, it's not ending like that." But it did. It ended just that.
On the positive note, I still think that owls are too cute, way cute. So in five owl ratings, I'd give the film three, considering the cost, the cuteness, and the nice story that just did not deliver well.
Allow me to finish by sharing something I loved about the film--Legends are true even if you can't see it as long as your heart believes in it.
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