The Avengers are not the only dream team assembled on the big screen this year. Based on William Joyce's recent, ongoing The Guardians of Childhood book series, Rise of the Guardians unites Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman in a world-saving effort. The premise is reminiscent of one of the weaker aspects of Tim Allen's The Santa Clause sequels, but the film is little like that. Guardians represents the new DreamWorks Animation, dark and adventurous like How to Train Your Dragon as opposed to the comic irreverence that Shrek and its sequels established as the studio's signature tone.

Guardians opens with its protagonist Jack Frost (voiced by Star Trek's Chris Pine), a pixie-ish white-haired adolescent resembling the hero of a modern video game, discovering his identity three hundred years ago. He produces frost by touch, picks up his staff, and discovers that no one can see him. In the present day, Frost looks the same and is still struggling with his anonymity. We later learn that his invisibility is the result of children not believing in him. Santa leaves gifts under the tree, the Tooth Fairy leaves money under the pillow, but kids don't care about Frost's brand of chill.

You can't accuse this film of relying on the standard old notions of these legendary characters. Santa Claus is a burly Russian man (Alec Baldwin adopting a thick accent) with "Nice" and "Naughty" tattooed on his forearms. Yetis, not elves, do most of his toy manufacturing. The Easter Bunny is human-sized, upright, and understandably mistaken for a kangaroo (Hugh Jackman uses his natural Aussie accent). For some reason, the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) is a colorful small bird with even smaller ones as her assistants. The Sandman, meanwhile, is short, golden, and silent, relying on pantomime to convey his ideas.

After Santa spots some ominous dark sand near his snow globe, the group convenes and The Man in the Moon (who, not visually personified, can be imagined as anyone from God to the boy who fishes in the DreamWorks logo) decides that Jack Frost is to help them in this mission to protect the world from the Boogeyman, Pitch Black (Jude Law).

Looking for some credit and power, Pitch robs the Tooth Fairy's archives of lost teeth and childhood memories while also kidnapping her countless assistants. Immediately, some of the children of the world stop believing in the Tooth Fairy, as lights on a large globe dim in response to their diminished faith. Guardians doesn't plot the most imaginative of conflict for its heroes to combat. Jack Frost remains in the foreground, gripped by self-doubt even after his past life is discovered. While his arc has interest, it doesn't translate very well to the action the film is compelled to supply, pitting hero against villain in a battle resembling those of Harry Potter and Voldemort. These central segments seem destined to lose a good portion of the audience. They're not particularly kid-friendly; cute and comedic moments are generally relegated to the beginning and end. At the same time, they're not exciting enough to impress teens or artistic enough to captivate adults.