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88
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Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The shaggy, whimsical characters have a primal familiarity, as though they were developed by a tag team of Maurice Sendak and Walt Disney.
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75
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
There's an audience for this film. It's not me. I gather younger children will like the breakneck action, the magical ability to fly and the young hero who has tired of only being a name. Their parents and older siblings may find the 89-minute running time quite long enough.
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75
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Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Thoughts become things. That's the message of Rise of the Guardians, a charming if slightly dark and cobwebbed animated feature about how believing in something makes it real, or real enough.
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70
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The New York Times A.O. Scott
Works so hard at celebrating wide eyes and naïve joy that it comes close to spoiling its own intermittent wonderfulness.
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67
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Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It's all more lightweight-likable than exciting.
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63
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USA Today Claudia Puig
With its fanciful razzle-dazzle, Rise of the Guardians is appealing, if slightly hectic, family fare.
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63
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Boston Globe Tom Russo
This does seem to leave room for bigger, bolder, more momentous adventures down the line.
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60
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Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
There is a lot to savor in Rise of the Guardians, but sometimes too much of a good thing can be exhausting.
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50
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San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Innocence and joy are threatened by the Boogeyman, and from there the plot comes pretty close to mirroring this summer's "The Avengers" movie. Mostly in a good way.
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50
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Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The movie lacks a resonant center. The script seems to have been written by committee, with members lobbying for each major character, and the action, set in vast environments all over the map, spreads itself so thin that a surfeit of motion vitiates emotion.
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