Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010)

(On Cable TV, December 2022) Even twelve years later, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole remains an outlier in director Zack Snyder’s filmography—an animated film for kids, featuring teenage owls. This being said, it’s not that much of an outlier, considering that the film is significantly darker than most family films, uses slow motion like it’s about to be outlawed, and doesn’t hold back on action sequences. This kiddie film in Snyder’s body of work ends up being the grimdark film in the kiddie pool. Adapted from a book series, The Owls of Ga’Hoole follows the adventures of two young owls who are kidnapped and meant to be enslaved by a tribe of evil owls (darkness ahoy!), but manage to fight back. Visually, the film remains spectacular, with great computer animation and some canny cinematography (meant for 3D, but still impressive in 2D) along the way. Plot-wise, it’s simpler and could have been better… but is still not without some interest. While it’s not quite a solid hit, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is watchable… and probably not quite the film you expect.