*****SPOILERS*****
Negative
The lights representing children went
out all over the world, including cultures that don’t do tooth money or Easter
or Christmas.
How can ruining these events effect
children who have nothing to do with these specific events? It was clear that
even though the nightmares were the catalyst, it was the loss of tooth money
and Easter that made children miserable enough to not believe.
Sure, this could be alternate Earth
where everywhere celebrates these things. But if that were the case they should
have demonstrated this with where they went and what kind of children they saw.
Questions
Adults don’t believe in the Guardians
anymore. How, then, do they explain all the presents, Easter eggs and tooth
money that their children got that they themselves didn’t give their kids?
Sure, I imagine they bought a few presents and Easter eggs, but surely they’d
notice the discrepancy in quantity? But the film clearly shows the kids found
no Easter eggs and they woke up Christmas morning without any presents and the
kids weren’t getting tooth money. Maybe the Guardians alter the parents’
memories? If they’re the guardians of children, maybe they have no moral qualms
altering adult memories if it benefits the children?
We never find out why Jack didn’t know
his past. I have a guess: if he knew his past, he’d feel guilty for nearly
causing his sister’s death. Who could be fun after that? Especially as fun
(ice-skating) was what put his sister in danger.
People can’t touch or interact with
the Guardians unless they believe. Everything else that’s physical (trees,
wind, animals) can interact with the Guardians. So maybe it’s that adults
choose to not believe in the Guardians, and hence the Guardians’ magic responds
to that?
How did Baby Tooth not know there were
mice in the European Division? Surely all divisions bring teeth back to Tooth
Palace? Unless there is a different palace for each division? Would that mean
all divisions had their own leader, of which the Tooth Fairy is the overall
leader because she’s the Guardian of Memories? Being a Guardian of Memories
couldn’t be decoupled from leading the tooth collectors because the very reason
teeth are collected is for their memories.
The Easter Bunny says about Easter,
“There will be spring on every continent.” Considering the southern hemisphere
continents are in autumn when they celebrate Easter, the Easter Bunny’s comment
seems off. Considering he’s the one that places the Easter eggs, he more than
anyone should know this difference. Or perhaps their version of Earth doesn’t
have tilted axis, so the seasons wouldn’t be different. Although the tilt is
why there are seasons, so there would have to be a different reason. There are
two possibilities. One: magic. Two: no orbit is perfectly circular, so perhaps
this Earth’s orbit is closest in summer and furthest in winter.
Pitch Black’s lair is under a broken
bed. Considering Pitch is identified as the Bogey Man and Bogey Men live under
the bed, this is a nice detail. But where is the house (houses are more durable
than beds)? Maybe the bed is magical. Also, the bed looks European and Pitch
was said to be banished in the Dark Ages; Jack Frost is in America when he
finds the bed and Europeans hadn’t reached the Americas by the medieval period.
I suppose if Jack’s clothes can change over time, so can the entrance to
Pitch’s lair.
Positives
Few things are a joy every time,
though this film fits the bill.
There were so much positivity brimming
from the film. Jack’s laugh was just the perfect embodiment of joy.
I can’t help but mention the
animation. Simply fantastic! In particular, I liked how the ice and snow
branched out from centre outwards, seemingly unfolding from itself and
mimicking how snowflakes and ice form in real life. Not to mention the sand
granules shifting and flowing together as one yet clearly being composed of
individual grains.
This film balances seriousness and
humour so well. Quite often, productions attempting this results in something
that feels disjointed, almost like two versions of the same film were forced
together. Yet this film flowed well.
When caught eating a cookie, the elf
just spits it back onto the plate. Sandy rings a bell to get everyone’s
attention, only it’s connected to a poor, shook elf.
Jamie’s mum says Jack Frost is “just
an expression” when Jack Frost is standing right there. That must’ve hurt.
The yeti is finishing painting the
last robot blue, only to be told they should be red. Frustrating for him yet
funny to us. Later he’s finishing painting the last egg red, only to be told
they should be blue. He changed his behaviour, only for the same frustration to
happen to him anyway!
The Guardians get coins from the
laundrette. Any adults watching the CCTV must have been so confused: the lights
are turned on without customers, coins drop into the collection area without
the machine having been activated, and then the coins would have floated into
the air before disappearing.
Father Christmas: “We’re busy bring
joy to children. We don’t have time… for children.”
This remains an underrated film.
It was released at a time when the
world wasn’t quite so bonkers. If it had been released in a time when hope was
needed, I think it would have done a lot better.
But after all the work that went into
it, the creators clearly couldn’t lock it away for the perfect time. That only
risks the file getting corrupted or going missing (not to mention they need to
make money to pay people).
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