Die Legende der Wächter

It must be the first time that a wonderful trailer made me look forward to an animation film and the result could not be other than disappointment. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole would be very good if it was consistent. It’s a very dark fantasy where evil owls use an almost Nazi rhetoric on the one hand, but on the other, it’s a childish family movie with cute plush animals. Hmm. Visually, it’s beautiful, but I wasn’t a fan of the random switch between one mode and the other, though the darker passages were a lot of fun. The rating is 7/10, but in this case, four stars would be too much, so three. (09.12.2010)

This film features the action of 300, the epicness of The Lord of the Rings, and the childish humor of all sorts of cartoons. However, you just can't get everything done in ninety minutes, so the originally planned animated event of the year remains only a technological treat (will there be an Oscar?) that works in HD for the eye but SD for the brain. I wouldn't take the kids to see it but the adults. Snyder was quite off with this one. I give it a weaker three stars. (14.12.2010)

A classic epic fantasy about rebellion against a Fascist system. Full of slow-motion shots of cute owls flirting and performing kids pranks for a whole hour and a half. And unfortunately a whole lot of that fits in. The result is a pastiche that entertains nobody. Thanks to its brilliant audiovisual qualities, it is at least watchable and, thanks to certain scenes playing at regular fantasy without any compromises for the youngest viewers, this movie is bearable, but enjoyable... No, unfortunately not. (05.01.2011)

First of all I have to praise the really perfect animation. The story was also very nice. A beautiful cartoon about beautiful owls. Too bad I didn't see it in 3D... maybe it would have been 5 stars. (06.02.2011)

Nice animation, and I liked the soundtrack at one point. But otherwise? NOPE. Maybe I'm squeamish, but I absolutely hated the owls fighting with each other. Plus it was such an infantile story, boilerplate characters, weird ambitions and goals, even the motivations of the protagonists and antagonists. I didn't like it. There are thousands and thousands of other and better cartoons out there. A weak 2 stars. (15.11.2011)

Eine wunderschöne, bis in die letzte Feder durchgearbeitete Animation, Snyders Gefühl für die visuelle Seite des Films und für Actionszenen, die in einem vernünftigen Umfang durch verdammt effektvolle Aufnahmen in Zeitlupe ergänzt werden, versus eine wahrscheinlich hundertmal gesehene Geschichte, die nichts Neues gezeigt hat, und eine nicht besonders sympathische Hauptfigur. Die Legende der Wächter hat eine schöne visuelle Seite, es ist eine echte Augenweide. Der Film vergeht recht schnell und ist meiner Meinung nach mehr oder weniger OK. Eine gute Familienunterhaltung. Man merkt aber auch, dass der Film etwas mehr sein wollte – vielleicht ein Grundstein einer großen Federsaga. So ein Gefühl hat in mir Die Legende der Wächter aber nicht hervorgerufen. Freiwillig würde ich mir diesen Animationsfilm nicht noch einmal anschauen. Drei Sterne und noch ein kleines Stück dazu gebe ich dem Film nur wegen der bereits erwähnten positiven Aspekte, der Musik (ein Motiv wie von Williams!) und wegen der originellen Synchronsprecher*innen.__PS: Falls Sie eine spitzenmäßige Animation und eine ausgezeichnete Geschichte wollen, dann schauen Sie sich Rango an. (03.07.2011)

I can't help but think that making soldiers out of owls and letting these gentle and dignified animals go head to head was a bit far-fetched. And yet the animation is truly beautiful, the set design and the music in particular completely absorbed me, and, despite the slight lack of humour, I felt at home in the owl world from the beginning. But the last twenty minutes disappointed me a lot, and though they were shot as impressively and effectively as the rest of the film, the overall picture of the story based mainly on the brilliantly invented owl traditions and myths was irrevocably distorted. Still, thumbs up, because I would never have expected such a pleasant and accessible movie from Snyder. 70% (06.11.2012)

There aren't many animations that one would sometimes hear odes about and other times absolute damnation. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" is exactly such a movie. There are voices that damn it and others that absolutely adore it. I tend to lean towards the more positive ones because I quite enjoyed the film. It's not a particularly new story, but it's presented with love for animated movies and children. That's what I liked about it. (25.02.2014)