When you mention Zack Snyder, a few movies immediately come to mind: 300, Watchmen, his work with DC. If you keep thinking about him, then movies like Sucker Punch, Rebel Moon, and Army of the Dead will start to bubble up to the surface of your brain. But you have to dig even further, deep into the darkest depths of Snyder’s IMDB profile, to recall his strange animated family movie that was meant to anchor a new franchise for Warner Bros., only to become an awkwardly-titled punchline instead. Now, 15 years later, the movie may be just as strange and badly named, but it’s managed to do what animated films rarely do: still look cutting-edge.
The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole is an overstuffed title for an overstuffed movie. The book series it was based on, the more straightforwardly named Guardians of Ga’Hoole, was written by prolific children’s author Kathryn Lasky and added owls to the Warrior Cats and Redwall genre of “fantasy world where animals exist in a complex society full of conflict and drama.” Zack Snyder brought this owl society and all its intricacies to the big screen, and the result was a high-wire act of worldbuilding and goofiness, complete with an original song by Owl City.
