I went to see Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole while I was up in Seattle for Rainfurrest. Now *this* was a good movie. It's CG animated with that near photorealistic look. The owls themselves are pretty realistic looking, at least as realistic as you can get with talking animals. This is a very non-toony movie, and while there is a little bit of humor here and there for comic relief, the look and story are fairly serious overall. In particular, the owls don't use their wings for anything except flying. No where in the movie do they try to use their wings as substitutes for arms and hands. If they have to pick something up, they use their feet or beaks.

There's lots of action and drama in this film, and I can only imagine how much work must have gone into the choreography of the aerial fight sequences. Those were just great to watch, as were all the scenes involving weather and environmental effects. All the sets and scenery were outstanding as well. It's awesome that they can make animated fantasy movies that look this good these days.

Legend was directed by Zack Snyder who also directed 300 and it shows. That type of style works so well with a movie like this and you can tell this movie was directed as if it were live action. I saw this movie on the IMAX screen in 3D and it looked and sounded fantastic.

Animation fans should try to see this movie while it's still in the good theaters. On the other hand, you can wait and just rent Alpha and Omega and you won't really be missing anything.

Legend of the Guardians Trailers
Legend of the Guardians Desktop Wallpaper