So I watched DreamWorks Rise of the Guardians recently. Overall I think the movie was quite enjoyable. There were fun engaging characters, stunning action, quick-witted comedy and a memorable villain like Pitch Black so here is my review of it. Before watching the movie I did notice how Pitch Black gets listed in the top 10 of nearly every DreamWorks Villains List. He also looked dang cool so I was excited for this villain and after watching the movie, I do think he is a really cool villain but also let down by some aspects. So here are my pros and cons.
Pros: -
Pitch Black has a really good design. I see a lot of people not liking his design but I think he looked cool and intimidating.
He has some stunning action sequences. Every scene with Pitch Black is a visual delight. His nightmares are super cool.
I also like Jude Law's voice acting performance.
Like typical DreamWorks villains, Pitch is a dark mirror or polar opposite of the main protagonist, Jack Frost. They both crave for attention albeit in different ways like Jack wants to be loved by children while Pitch wants to be feared. Jack's personality is about having fun with children but Pitch takes joy in scaring them. All of these pros make him a really cool and memorable villain but now coming to the negatives.
Cons: -
Pitch kind of feels like one-dimensional at times. I get it he is the embodiment of fear but all the guardian characters are nuanced so even he deserved to be a nuanced character to make him more engaging.
Then the backstory in the book series of which the movie is inspired is so rich and compelling. According to the books, there is an interplanetary civilization set in the planets and stars. It was the Golden Age and Pitch Black was a valiant general and his original name was Kozmotis Pitchiner. He kept defeating the dark forces like dream pirates or fearlings, similar to the nightmares we see in the movie. So they plan to break his spirit by killing his family. So they stage a fake threat in his home constellation, Orion. This distracts Pitch and the fearlings kill his wife while his daughter manages to escape but he thinks she died and there are more stories with the daughter. Anyway, so Pitch still succeeds in trapping the fearlings in a prison planet and he is grief-stricken by his loss. But the fearlings imitate his daughter's voice, saying she is trapped inside the prison. Pitch falls for it, he opens the prison and the fearlings corrupt him, turning him into the Nightmare King, Pitch Black. So yeah this is a pretty compelling and unique backstory that had so much potential. Now yes the books and the movie were not written at the same time but still they must have written some sort of backstory for the characters and it could have been incorporated.
Then Pitch Black's conflicts and struggle with the protagonists were also not that much engaging. Like throughout the movie he is this over-the-top invincible villain and only gets defeated in the climax. He turns dreams into nightmares, he steals memories from tooth fairy, he apparently kills Sandy, he ruins Easter and the children lose faith in their guardians. So yeah I know this makes him a threatening villain but it does not make the struggle engaging to watch. It always feels one-sided and kind of becomes boring and then since Pitch is the villain he has to get defeated. Compare that to villains like Tai Lung or Lord Shen. No, I am not comparing backstories or personalities. Tai Lung escapes from prison battling a 1000 guards, then while facing the Furious Five, the battle never feels one-sided and that is what makes it engaging. Furious Five nearly win but Tai Lung uses tactics and wins the day. Then while facing Shifu, the battle is emotionally intense. So there is a lot of creativity in his struggle with the characters. Even with Lord Shen, he conquers Gongmen City and then fails to kill the characters during the tower battle scene even with his deadly weapons.
If you know me, I do love villains like General Morando or Chameleon to death. They have generic motivations and no nuanced personalities. However other aspects make them engaging. Like General Morando is a ruthless strategist. The evil plans he devises make him compelling as a villain. Then there are moments when the main characters claim small victories. These small victories make the struggle feel engaging. Then with Chameleon, she is a sorceress lurking in her fortress waiting for Po. She is not as threatening as Tai Lung or Shen but she is analytical. Like she sets traps in the fortress. She knows she is powerless against kung fu masters so instead she waits in her fortress for Po to deliver the Staff of Wisdom to her. After she gets the Staff, there is a clear rise to power. Chameleon outsmarts Tai Lung and steals his kung fu after he is able to get a spectacular action scene. Chameleon's monologue of "I got this... I am getting warmed up" made it feel satisfactory because she is now finally becoming a threat. So basically my point is if the villain is powerful and invincible throughout the movie with no weakness or no minor defeat before the climax, it starts becoming boring and predictable.
His ultimate fate could have been redemption. Like maybe he could have been a nuanced character who wants there to be a balance between hope, joy and fear.
Also another thing that I dislike about Pitch is the scene where he manipulates Jack Frost. Its a join me proposal by the villain. Its very cliched and Jack almost immediately refuses it. The resolution is so quick and the manipulation ultimately has no impact. Pitch can just enter the scene, destroy Jack's staff and throw him off the cliff. The manipulation has little impact to the rest of the events.
So I will probably give Pitch Black a score of like 7.5/10. What do you guys think ? I think I am gonna get a lot of heat. Are some of my criticisms going over your head ? Maybe !!
