Rise of the Guardians is based on the beautifully illustrated books of William Joyce. Guardians reimagines the origins of childhood’s greatest heroes (Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy) as an Avengers-style team that—in addition to their day jobs—protects the innocence of kids around the world. And when the evil Pitch (voiced by Jude Law) figures out a way to turn Sandman’s sweet dreams into nightmares, an insecure Jack Frost (Chris Pine) is invited to join the super holiday team. There’s fun to be had here—Santa (Alec Baldwin) is a burly, tough Russian with “naughty and nice” tattoo sleeves, while the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) is an Australian boomerang-throwing badass. All these heroes—splendidly rendered—would be fantastic ingredients for a fun, thoughtful retelling of beloved characters… if it weren’t for Hollywood’s trust issues. Three quarters of Rise of the Guardians involves unnecessary, dizzying action sequences, rather than focusing on building characters, plot, and the subtext of the story. While the ending works, it does so just barely—and makes one long for the great, gorgeous, thoughtful children’s film that Rise of the Guardians could’ve been. (WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY)