There is a reason why Zack Snyder is often referred to as a visionary director … it’s because he is! After the directors dynamic debut, revitalizing the zombie genre with his groundbreaking remake of George A. Romero’s classic horror film “Dawn Of The Dead,” he then followed that up with two movies adapted from beloved comic books. The first was the extremely successful “sword & sandal” film “300,” which was based on legendary comic book writer Frank Miller’s popular comic. The second was the long awaited adaptation of “Watchmen” based on equally legendary comic book writer Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic books of all-time. While the film wasn’t as big a box office smash as his two previous films, he truly won over the hearts of fan-boys everywhere for not only bringing the beloved comic to the big screen but for making such a loving and faithful adaptation of the source material.

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Now the director returns with another epic film based on a piece of literary work. “Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” based on the series of novels by Kathryn Lasky, is a moving, entertaining and mature family film the likes of which we haven’t seen since classics from the ’80s such as “The Secret of NIMH” or “The Last Unicorn.” Snyder incorporates his signature style of slow-mo fighting brilliantly into the film and puts his special touches on every aspect of the movie from the music to the glorious 3D. The animation is breathtaking and the owls look as real as possible with amazing animation produced by Animal Logic, the company that did the effects for “Happy Feet.” The filmmakers were successfully able to make each owl have their own uniquely different personality and that really helps to making these characters come alive and feel real. But it is the 3D experience that is really amazing here. Much like “Avatar,” it doesn’t take away from your viewing experience but instead enhances it making it that much more exciting to watch. The story is beautiful and incorporates both epic scale excitement with tender and touching moments.

The film begins by introducing us to two young owls that are just learning to fly, Soren (Jim Sturgess) and Kludd (Ryan Kwanten). Soren is a dreamer that’s head has been filled with stories of the Guardians, an alliance of owls that protect the kingdom of Ga’Hoole. He is also a gifted flyer, unlike his older brother Kludd who is having trouble learning to fly and who doesn’t share his brother’s love for the guardians. One day while practicing flying the two young birds fall to the ground and are kidnapped by the Pure Ones. The Pure Ones are a group of evil owls led by Nyra (Helen Mirren) who serve her king, Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton) and wants to take over the kingdom and rule all owls. The Pure Ones kidnap young owls and train them to do one of two things: become soldiers in their army or slaves in their fields. The Pure Ones have devised away to create a weapon that will secure their place as top of the owl food chain and the only owls capable of stopping them are the Guardians.

Aided by Grimble (Hugo Weaving), a former Guardian secretly posing as a Pure One, Soren escapes with his friend Gylfie (Emily Barclay) and they soon meet Twilight (Anthony LaPaglia) and Digger (David Wenham), two owls that can show them the way to the Great G’Hoole Tree and the Guardians. They also are reunited with Mrs. Plithiver (Miriam Margolyes), a friendly snake that works for Soren’s parents and helped raise him. Together the five unlikely friends journey together to the Great Tree to warn the Guardians of the Pure Ones evil scheme. Meanwhile, Nyra has shaped Kludd into her greatest warrior and at his recommendation kidnaps his sister. Once at the Great Tree, Soren tells the Guardians of Metalbeak and the Pure Ones plans to rule all the owls. They begin to train Soren for the challenges ahead of him and soon leave to fight the Pure Ones. But Soren realizes that this could be a trap set by the Pure Ones to kill the Guardians. Now Soren must overcome his fears and battle his own brother if he hopes to save the Guardians, free his family and defeat the Pure Ones once and for all.

What Snyder has done with film is nothing short of brilliant, creating a mature and magical film for the whole family. The script by John Orloff is smart, clever and touching. All of the voice acting in the film is excellent, especially Helen Mirren as Nyra, Joel Edgerton as Metalbeak and Anthony LaPaglia as Twilight. The voice performances of Jim Sturgess and Ryan Kwanten (almost unrecognizable from his work on “True Blood”) are terrific and become the emotional core of the film. You can actually feel the tension building between the two battling brothers. The music by David Hirschfelder is perfect and sets the mood for the film just right. The animation is incredible and in 3D looks absolutely amazing. But it is the work of Zack Snyder and his remarkable vision as a director that really makes this film a masterpiece. His ability to see the magic of this story and how it could come to life on screen is impressive to say the least. He has made a children’s film that has the scope and epic ness of the most complicated sci-fi but at the core tells a human story that anyone can relate to. In the end, “Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” is a groundbreaking children’s film unlike anything that we have seen before. It’s bold, mature, grand and absolutely riveting. I highly recommend this movie for any parent, child or fan-boy that wants to go to the theater to see something different than they’ve seen before. This movie is guaranteed to be completely enchanting and wonderfully fun for the whole family!