Feelgood fantasy in 3D

Rise of the Guardians (PG)
Running time 97 minutes
Rating:***
If you can spare a moment between the Christmas food, the presents, the relatives visiting and all those old war films on television, then you could indulge in a little fantasy for the festive season.
All you have to do – and it includes the adults – is close your eyes, forget austerity and George Osborne’s financial wizardry, and think of all the fantasy figures that play such an important role in children’s lives.
There’s that roly-poly Father Christmas (actually quite thin, but then a well-known American drinks firm thought he looked better with a bit of substance).
Then there is the Tooth Fairy, a bit like Tinkerbell but less naughty, the Easter Bunny, who’s really a hare in medieval mythology, and Jack Frost, that well-know Norse legend.
All these mythical characters have kept their jobs by being nice to kids, but woe betide any superhero who starts losing the public trust, because the next stage is an appearance on Get Me Out of Here!.
The fantasy figures, voiced by well-known actors, make up the main characters in Dreamworks’ latest computer-animated extravaganza, Rise of the Guardians, which opened last week to moderate success.
The Guardians, as they are known, are called upon to help save the world from the black schemes of Pitch (known to others as the Devil, Old Nick, Beelzebub and so on), who spreads fear and worry through nightmares until the children worldwide don’t know what to believe in.
Father Christmas (Alec Baldwin), Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth (Isla Fisher) and Jack Frost (Chris Pine), plus the Sandman, join forces to try to defeat the nasty Pitch (Jude Law), using all the tricks they can muster to keep the youngsters believing in all the good things around them.
At $145 million, this is a heavyweight fantasy, and the glorious animation and top quality 3D, plus the star voices of course, shows where the money has gone.
The plot offers a believable backstory about Jack being a lippy teenager just out for fun but not really knowing who he is or why he’s even there.
With a PG rating, there is not much in the way of gloom, doom, and frightening monsters in this film, just red-eyed horses that appear pleasanter versions of the evil mounts in Lord of the Rings.
Still, there’s sharp lines, great visual effects and enough fun to keep your average youngster interested – at least until the computer games presents are opened.