"Legend tells of... The Guardians of Ga'Hoole", says the opening line. Just don't get us started... But clunky name-change notwithstanding, there's a lot to look forward to in Zack Snyder's ahem Legend of the Guardians, and hot on the heels of the first few stills, here's a trailer to whet your appetites.
As you'll know by now, Guardians is adapted from Kathryn Lasky’s books, about a young owl kidnapped by soldier owls, who are dead set against the peacenik Ga'Hoolians. The mostly Antipodean cast is headed up by Hugo Weaving, whose voiceover here sounds dreadfully portentous and cliched until it's undercut and interrupted by his bored owlets, and you realise it's a joke. Hoorah!
Not quite so self-aware are the taglines ("Let instinct guide you; let legend inspire you; let MBS literature influence your marketing")* and the music. But, in all its swooping, feathered, armoured, sea-sprayed, firelit, hi-def gorgeousness, the film looks beautiful. It's out in the UK on October 15th.
*Okay, not that last one.