giz-zard (giz'erd) n. the muscular second stomach of a bird
Oddly enough, this bit of information will be quite handy for you to know for this movie because apparently owls do a lot of metaphorical feeling with their gizzards.
While my brain resisted the inclination I had to really dig this movie (come on, their owls for pity's sake) when I relaxed and let go of my disbelief for just a few short minutes I really got into this movie. Okay I'm just going to admit it, it was pretty darn cool.
Soren is a young owl who is kidnapped by evil owls who are forming an evil owl army. He must escape and find the Guardian Owls of Ga'Hoole who will fight back and restore justice to the owl world.
There was a little bit of The Secret of Nimh in this mixed with some Lord of the Rings and a big dose of 300 thrown in there for some visual/artistic explosion. Now don't get your hopes up for a movie that is completely different from anything you've ever seen because the storyline has everything in it you've ever seen in dozens of movies before it (scarred and broken mentor, brother vs. brother, evil people brainwashing the innocent etc. etc.) But it's all given a new and visually cool twist with the animated but very realistic owls and their awesome armor and metal-talon weapons. I know right? Metal, razor sharp talons are actually pretty sweet and I imagine, that should owls be faced with the problems they were faced with in this movie, they just might take up iron forging and make tough looking helmets and weapons to defend themselves.
So, I say, it was worth renting. The kids even liked it right up there How to Train Your Dragon. I myself, much prefer watching Hiccup fight the evil dragon on his own flying dragon, but the Owls of Ga'Hoole have their own level awesomeness in fight and flight.
Motherly Advice: Clearplay mostly concentrates on filtering out intense battle scenes and scary moments. For a PG movie this thing was rather violent. True that there was no blood, gore or anything like that but the battling between birds and bats was super intense. Also there are some freaky moments when Simon's sister becomes 'Moon Blinked' and her eyes appear white and lifeless. It gave me the shivers. I'd put the age limit on this one for 8 year olds and up...maybe even 10 if you're extra sensitive.
Danielle'-Fight or Flight Instincts? Why Not Both?
Warning: If you choose to google the word gizzard do not look at any pictures or read any detailed descriptions of them because your gag reflex will likely become engaged in some serious...gagging.
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