“The Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga’hoole” was a hoot. It is based on the series of books by Kathryn Lasky.

“The Guardians” is a surprisingly dark movie about a band of owls, totally different in every way, that work together to stop a common enemy, a different band of owls, the evil Pure Ones, who are on a crash-path toward victory over the Owl Kingdoms. Most of the movie is spent on the main characters’ journey from the prison camp of the Pure Ones to the Guardians of Ga’hoole.

Once there, Soren (the main character) and his friends must convince the owl council that the Pure Ones actually exist. Once they have, all of the guardians leave to help the dozens of helpless baby owls kidnapped by the Pure Ones (like Soren, and his brother Claude) to collect what seems like an unstoppable weapon, Metal Flecks.

At the last minute, Soren realizes that there is a trap waiting for all of the guardians at the Pure Ones’ castle. He and his friends rush to the rescue, but a swarm of flesh eating bats is sent at them.

And then, Soren comes face to face with his one brother, Claude, who is now a Pure One. Soren just can’t let him die, no matter how many times Claude tries to kill him.

But to save the Owl Kingdoms, to save the Guardians, and to save himself, he has to let go of his own brother, and do what he was fated to do.

The movie kept me awake and on the edge of my seat. But the movie wasn’t perfect.

The movie was not only hard to follow, but also completely forgot to explain what some of the more crucial aspects of the film exactly were – like the Metal Flecks, a material collected by chained owls, that had the power to trap other owls.

But the movie was enjoyable, despite the many unexplored aspects that were introduced during the film. The graphics were unbeatable and the photography used amazing angles.

I would recommend seeing the movie, not exactly for the plotline, but to see what our new standards for graphic animation now are.

Cole R. Ransom is a student at Chinook Middle School in Bellevue.