Rise of the Guardians

Happy-go-lucky Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine) is recruited into the Guardians—Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and the Sandman (no voice)—to defend children from the Boogey Man (Jude Law). Adapted from William Joyce's kid-lit books by David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by Peter Ramsey, the movie has beautiful colors and smooth, subtle animation but a weak story that fails to resonate emotionally. It's an overeager mash-up of holidays (Easter, Christmas) and metaphors (Sandman, Jack Frost) that tries so hard to be about all of them that it ends up not really being about anything. The movie's fallback position: toss in lots of roller-coaster action and zippy magic fights. The audience's option: Sit back and watch the pretty pictures.