Rise of the Guardians-review

We saw this at the Drive-in last Friday. We missed the first 10-15 minutes...

It has everything most Christians could be leery & suspicious of: Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Jack Frost & the Boogey Man! LOL

BUT I liked it. I saw some themes I have noticed in children's movies lately: identity (& purpose) & belief.

SPOILER ALERT

I think the main story is about Jack Frost--he can't remember WHO he is or where he came from so he does not understand his purpose.

Each characters existence is dependent upon the belief of all the children around the world. (think Polar Express w/ Santa)

The characters are not traditional representations--Santa is Russian. The Easter Bunny is an Aussie...& each character has a 'center' or sort of a main theme or 'virtue' that is THEM. Sandman's is imagination, Easter Bunny is 'hope'...etc.

What *I* got out of it & had good discussion w/ my kiddos about was:
Jack Frost--not knowing who he was--lack of identity is an issue w/ all of us. He could not remember who he was which led him to not knowing who he was meant to be now (a guardian). When we are lost in a mistaken identity--outside of Christ--we may not understand our purpose. And we also have to be honest about who we *were* to recognize God's change into who we are meant to be.

Another point: Jack goes on an errand & is supposed to come right back...instead he is tempted by the bad guy, goes into his lair & allows himself to entertain a conversation w/ the bad guy. Of course the bad guy is feeding him lies about his friends but he is tempted to believe them....meanwhile BECAUSE he did NOT go right back (ie: stay on the path) like he was supposed to--his friends were defenseless--they needed him & he was not there--so they were attacked & lost.

I applied this to Biblical beliefs of how we should deal w/ temptation & satan--we shouldn't be entertaining conversations w/ the devil--we should be FLEEING from him! He will just feed us lies, feed into our own insecurities & won't have answers about who we are or are meant to be. And when we are distracted from our purpose--the people we care about are left vulnerable.

Of course you might just watch the movie & see it as a dumb kids flick--& that is ok.

The end might be scary for younger children. The 'bad guy', the boogey man, Pitch, gets taken away by his whispy, fear-smelling horses--it reminded me very much of how the bad guys got taken away in that 80's movie ghost with Demi Moore & Patrick Swayze. Remember that?