Rise of the Guardians

Here's a fresh look at old tradition: a tatted-up Russian St. Nick and an Australian kangaroo-looking Easter Bunny. Rise of the Guardians is based on an original children's book series by William Joyce, who produced the film along with Guillermo Del Toro. The books were inspired by the author's 6-year-old daughter when she asked him if Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny knew each other.

Admittedly I was skeptical going in, but the chemistry of personalities works wonderfully. It creates an original formula that goes against certain expectations. Perhaps one improvement in potential sequels would be to focus more centrally on Santa (or "Nicholas St. North"), but Jack Frost's story is incredibly touching and I found it clever how it parallels the antagonist's motives. The film is slow to start but picks up at a fast pace with non-stop action. By the end, the entire movie theater was in applause.

Rise of the Guardians is a cute, adventurous, and heartwarming family film that focuses on hanging on to the best thing about childhood: belief.