In the fictional world where talking owls are the main civilisation, a new group of evil power hungry owls are trying to take over through slavery and manipulation. Caught up in the middle of a terrible plot, young owl Soren (Jim Sturgess) has to follow the legends and tales of his childhood to find the secret guardians of Ga'Hoole and seek their aid in stopping the evil owls.
First of all, its a kids film. Its based on a series of short stories aimed at children and this film isn't much different. The idea is simple, cutesy, very 'lesson' based, and for those of us old enough to know all that already, it can get a little dull and exasperating. Got that out of the way.
Visually this film is stunning. It is an animated feature, made with computer animation but even so it is mesmerising just to watch this film. The owls themselves are gorgeous to look at, not to mention the landscape lighting and every last grain of animation all comes together to create an image that is unforgettable.
The cast that lends their voices to this story includes Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush and Helen Mirren, and those are some big names for a kids story. There are a number of fight sequences which, coupled with slow/fast motion of 300 and the mind-blowing aesthetics that I've already talked about, become truly entertaining. For those who like unique film, this is an Australian-American film and was distributed through a number of Australian companies - Australia doesn't have a big history of animated features so there's your back story right there.
All in all, I'd say this film is certainly worth a view.
