reviews by Shannon Bowman-Sarkisian

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

What would Zack Snydr — director of The Watchmen and 300, and now Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole — do without slow-motion action shots? Legend is Snyder’s first children’s movie, but his trademark style makes the film unmistakably his. There are plenty of visually stunning scenes in this computer-animated story, which was adapted from the first three books in Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series. In Legends, a young owl named Soren (Jim Sturgess) is kidnapped along with his brother Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) and taken to the St. Aegolius orphanage. The orphanage turns out to be a training ground for soldiers, led by a barn owl named Nyra (a delightfully wicked Helen Mirren).

Soren escapes with Gylfie (Emily Barclay), an elf owl, and the two head out to find the legendary Guardians of Ga’Hoole. Soren and Gylfie are joined on their quest by Mrs. Plithiver (Miriam Margolyes), a snake who was Soren’s nanny; Twilight (Anthony LaPaglia), a poetic great-gray owl; and Digger (David Wenham), a burrowing owl who serves as the film’s comic relief.

Younger children may find Legend a bit frightening and long-winded. The movie is about war and racial supremacy; there are mildly violent scenes throughout. Older elementary school and middle school students are the film’s target audience. Adults who come along for the ride will enjoy the wonderful animation, but Legend falls frustratingly flat in the writing and storyline departments. It’s certainly not the worst children’s movie ever made; however, it’s obviously not a Pixar creation.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, available on DVD, is rated PG for some sequences of scary action. Running time: 97 minutes.

Wet Hot American Summer

Before watching Wet Hot American Summer, take a minute to ask yourself a few questions:

1. Are wandering, go-nowhere plotlines something I appreciate?

2. Do I enjoy lowbrow but witty comedies about summer camp?

3. Am I a fan of television series such as The State, Stella, and Michael and Michael Have Issues?

4. Are fart jokes funny?

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, then Wet Hot American Summer probably isn’t for you. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad movie; it just has a very specific intended audience. Written by longtime collaborators David Wain (Children’s Hospital, Role Models, Stella, The State) and Michael Showalter (The Baxter, Michael and Michael Have Issues, Michael Showalter’s The Making Of…), Wet Hot American Summer remains true to their vision of fractured, subversive comedy. Viewers familiar with Showalter and Wain’s previous and current works will already know if they’ll enjoy this film. For the uninitiated, the above quiz should suffice.

Wet Hot American Summer is set in 1981 on the last day of camp at Camp Firewood. Camp Director Beth (Generation X icon Janeane Garofalo) attempts to maintain order before the night of the big talent show. Camp counselors Coop (Showalter), McKinley (Michael Ian Black), Andy (Paul Rudd), Katie (Marguerite Moreau), Susie (Amy Poehler ), Victor (Ken Marino), and Ben (Bradley Cooper) are hormone-crazed teenagers struggling to find that perfect last-minute hookup amid the bucolic splendor of late-summer Maine. They’re also occasionally responsible for the health and well-being of the campers. Christopher Meloni (Law and Order: SVU) steals every scene he’s in as camp chef Gene. Wet Hot American Summer is strange, humorous and chaotic, but it certainly captures the essence of screwball summer camp comedies.

Wet Hot American Summer, available on DVD, is rated R for strong sexual content, language and a drug sequence. Running time: 97 minutes.