Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: September 24, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
10
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The sketchy visual traits that differentiate the many characters in this avian universe will leave viewers crying, "Who, who" along with the owls. Read full review
75
USA TodayScott Bowles
The film is surprisingly deft and entertains at both the adult and juvenile levels. If something in Guardians catches your eye, trust your gizzard. Read full review
38
Washington PostDan Kois
And the action? It's especially hard to determine who's fighting whom in "Legends," because, well, because they are a bunch of owls. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAndy Webster
Legend of the Guardians may be a hoot, but for all its pyrotechnics, it fails to soar. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith Uhlich
Zack Snyder's films have some of the best opening-credits sequences in cinema; the unfortunate thing is that there's always a movie after them. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyNick Schager
Issues of faith, courage, loyalty, sacrifice and betrayal (the last perpetrated by Soren's brother) are all tackled by Snyder with understated maturity, though a series of slightly repetitive aerial skirmishes can't quite match the inventiveness of Feet's buoyant song-and-dance mash-ups. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
The movie is still a mess, stumbling from comic-relief scenes that aren't funny to a job-training interlude in which we learn that, among other things, owls make excellent . . . blacksmiths? Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
A splendid adventure sure to thrill children and fantasy buffs, while leaving everyone else passably entertained. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Legend of the Guardians sounds as if it were scripted by a team of 11-year-old boys, with too much plot for its 91-minute running time, a script that steals liberally from "Star Wars" and some occasionally eye-roll-worthy weirdness. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Unfortunately, the story rarely rises above cookie-cutter kids'-fantasy tropes. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom Russo
The result is sometimes charming and always visually astonishing. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
A gorgeously animated combat fantasy - "The Lord of the Rings" meets "Happy Feet." Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria Vizcarrondo
Directorially, the film takes a few too many trips into prosaic slow motion. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The movie is beautiful but, for one unfamiliar with the source material, confusing. I needed an owl scorecard. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
An unmemorable, frenzied, characterless hodgepodge that delights the eyes while numbing the brain. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The script is merely serviceable and too reminiscent of similar fantasy tales. But kids will instantly relate to the gentle Soren, while watching wide-eyed as he faces each challenge. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyJeff Labrecque
Director Zack Snyder (300) has crafted the rare 3-D eyegasm that's worth the premium ticket price. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
This picture sometimes rivals "Avatar" in its spectacular landscapes and thrilling flying sequences, but of course it won't come anywhere near those megagrosses, and it's too scary to be wholeheartedly embraced by children. Read full review
50
VarietyAndrew Barker
Though visually stunning and blessed with immaculate 3D work, film is fatally bogged down by tackling an essentially ridiculous premise (gladiator-attired owls fight genocide) with stony solemnity, and by subsisting on a note of sustained menace and terror in what is ostensibly a children's film. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
There's a confusion that you can sense as well, with the film pulled between its light and dark sides just as the owls struggle with forces of good and evil. That hesitation keeps "Guardians" from reaching the deep, emotionally rich center that confers greatness in the animation world. Read full review
60
EmpireDan Jolin
This is unlikely to win Kathryn Lansky's antipodean owl fantasy any new fans, but even the bemused (and confused) can luxuriate in some grand-scale visual storytelling. Read full review
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