So the visual effects company that brought us Happy Feet decided to do another bird-themed animation and they chose owls... ya rly. Not just any owls either, but the legendary owls of Ga'hoole. Based on a series of books by Kathryn Lasky, this overly grandiose tale of warrior owls fails to create as much magic as recent animation efforts. The story opens on a family of barn owls made up of adolescent males Soren (Jim Sturgess) and Kludd (True Blood's Ryan Kwanten), juvenile female Eglantine (Adrienne DeFaria), and Ma and Pa. Soren is a strong believer in the legendary Guardians of Ga'hoole - a group of warrior owls dedicated to defending the weak and vanquishing evil. Kludd... not so much.
During their first lesson in 'branching', which is gliding from branch to branch, Soren shows natural talent unlike Kludd which leads to much jealousy from the latter. That night, the brothers decide to practice more branching, but unfortunately end up on the ground. Unable to actually fly, they're sitting ducks (or rather sitting owls) to the many dangerous animals in the jungle. Fortunately (sort of), they are snatched up by owls from St. Aggie, an academy of sorts led by the legendary nemesis of the Guardians, Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton). At the academy the brothers join the many other young captives forced to partake in Metalbeak's evil plot to defeat the Guardians through a plan involving magnetic particles and bats (srsly). Selected owls are also offered the chance to be soldiers if they meet the species requirements. Their doctrine has obvious parallels to Aryan supremacy.
Soren manages to escape along with his new friend Gylfie (Emily Barclay) but Kludd elects to stay behind and join the evil army. The two set off to find the Guardians and make some friends along the way. It wouldn't be a huge spoiler to say that they of course find the Guardians. The inevitable battle of course happens and is quite interesting to see.
While the visual effects are very well done and the battle scenes are quite a sight to see, the film falls short of illiciting much emotion. The characters are fairly stereotypical and the plot has been seen many times over, apart from the fact that the players are owls. I found myself wondering how on earth owls could perform complex blacksmithing to create their little helmets, battle claws, and various structures. Some of the characters are quite cute and the voice work is good. But in the end, I guess I just prefer penguins.
P.S. The film features a song by Owl City... cute.
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