I'm a major fan of the series known as Owls of Ga'Hoole. The books are about a Barn Owl (or a Tyto) named Soren, and later down the road, the books will be about Soren's nephew, Nyroc (later renamed Coryn). The movie is basically books one, two, AND three combined into one movie. They have released a video game that goes with the movie.
Here is the plot of the movie (I would do the books and video game as well, but then we would be here forever.).
The movie is epically amazing. The graphics were spectacular. And the Owls look so life like. In my opinion. Anyway, the movie starts with a Barn Owl (A type of Tyto. A Tyto Owl is the most common owl species. Famous for a ring of color around the face which looks almost exactly like a heart. Not a real one. the cartoonish one) flying. This owl quickly (and quietly) grabs a mouse. When the Barn Owl returns to her hollow (All owls live in hollows), it is revealed that she is a mother and has three kids. Soren (who idolizes the legendary owl warrior Lyze of Kiel), Eglantine (who is the youngest of the three), and Kludd (who is prone to jealousy and can become angry in very little time.). By the time the mother, named Marella, arrives, Soren and Eglantine are reenacting the Battle of the Ice Claws, one of the most legendary battles between the owl warriors known as the Guardians (Kludd thinks that the Guardians don't exist) and the Pure Ones (which are evil owls). And of course, Soren plays the role of Lyze of Kiel. But then Eglantine starts complaining that it was supposed to be HER turn to play the role of Lyze of Kiel. Then comes a brief play fight.
The next day, Kludd and Soren go to do their first branching Kludd, however, fails because he didn't "Think before you Leap". And he made a lot of noise during the glide. All Tytos (Barn, Masked, Arctic, and so on.) are famous for making no noise at all when they fly. But Soren actually gets a perfect score on the first glide. No noise at all, and he did NOT almost fall off the branch he landed on. When Marella and her husband Noctus go on a hunt, Soren and Kludd decide to go do some more branching. Soren tells Kludd how he can glide so perfectly, and turns out, he just pictures himself on a tall cliff, standing side-by-side with Lyze of Kiel and the rest of the Guardians, preparing for battle.
Kludd angrily pushes Soren, but Soren winds up knocking the both of them off the branch because Kludd's push made Soren lose his balance. They wind up at the base of the the tree their hollow is in. Soren attempts to use full flight, but he can only get a few inches off the ground. Just then, a weird looking creature (I know it's name, but it is too silly if you ask me). But before Soren and Kludd became the beast's next meal, two owls appear and kill the beast. But it turns out that they are kidnappers and they only wanted to save the young owls because they are going to kidnap them and bring them to their lair in St. Aegolius.
The kidnappers have a hilarious conversation on whether or not their facial expressions are scary and whether or not they looked natural. One of the kidnappers, Jutt, combines his companion's "Evil Stare" with his "Intimidator" and gets what he calls "The Predator". Jutt's partner, Jatt, then comments on how the name of that expression is rather silly.
At St. Aegolius, we can see that Jatt and Jutt are not the only kidnappers. We can see hundreds of other owls that have already kidnapped owlets (Owls that are kids or teenagers are called owlets). One of these kidnappers winds up surprising Jutt, who was trying to creep him out with "The Predator", by asking if there is anything wrong with Jutt's face. Soren winds up meeting another kidnapped owlet named Gylfie. Gylfie is an Elf Owl. Elf Owls are the smallest species of owl on the planet, they normally live in the desert. Anyway, Gylfie is also from the Desert of Kunneer.
When the hostages are released, it is revealed that the kidnappers are actually lower ranking Pure Ones. When the lead kidnapper, Krindle, tries to tell the hostages of their fate (the ones that are not obedient will work as lowly miners. The ones that show true loyalty to the Pure Ones will become higher ranking soldiers) in the nicest way possible, the Hostages start to riot. Just then, Nyra, the Pure Ones' Queen, appears and calms the riot. When Gylfie demands that the Pure Ones must let them go, Soren agrees. Nyra, being the cold-blooded husband of the Pure One's King, punishes them by making the both of them lowly miners.
When Jutt and Jatt tell the hostages that are miners to look at the full moon and sleep, Gylfie realizes that they are trying to Moon-Blink them (Moon-Blinking is a slow process of hypnosis). So Soren and Gylfie resist and learn what the miners are looking for.
When one of the already Moon-Blinked owls finds what the Pure Ones are after (which is a shard of magic metal known as Flecks.), Jatt tries to congratulate the slave, but they forgot to label each slave as they number them. This results in Jatt saying "Thank you, Number 224... Whatever.". When Jutt randomly selects Soren (who is pretending to be Moon-Blinked) to take the Fleck to a glowing bundle, Soren discovers what the Flecks are for. They impair an Owl's Gizzard. Soren suffers from so much pain, that he couldn't even move. So a Bat takes the Fleck and puts it in the bundle. The Bat signals another Bat to take the Bundle to wherever the Flecks are needed.
Grimble realizes that Soren and Gylfie were not Moon-Blinked and takes the two owlets to a mysterious room. Krindle reveals that he is going to teach them full flight. The Soren asks "But aren't you-", but before he could finish, Krindle says "A Pure One? No, I hate 'em. Almost as much as what they turned me into. My feathers weren't always stained with these colors." We then see a flash back of Young Krindle getting overwhelmed by the Pure Ones when they invaded Krindle's kingdom. The Pure Ones thought they could use them, so they kidnapped Krindle's family. The Pure Ones turned him into a minion by promising that if Krindle serves the Pure Ones, no harm would come to his family.
Kludd, unlike Soren, actually became a soldier, and almost killed the other soldiers in a graduation test. Kludd is then deemed to have spectacular progress in the training. Kludd even gets to talk to the Pure Ones' King, the super evil Metal Beak. And Kludd reveals that he WANTS to be a Pure One.
When Nyra decides to make Soren a soldier, Grimble tells the young owls to escape and find the Guardians of Ga'Hoole. But that is easier said than done because the Guardians of Ga'Hoole live in the Sacred Tree of Ga'Hoole, which is one the island of Hoole, which is somewhere in the sea of Hoolemere. And the island of Hoole is surrounded by an ever lasting storm, which only the pure of heart can survive. Anyway, Nyra kills Grimble while Gylfie and Soren barely escape Nyra's guards.
Gylfie and Soren realize (after they have escaped) that they are in full flight. In a forest, Soren manages to get his talons on a moth. But has soon he has caught the moth, a Burrowing Owl named Digger starts complaining that Soren "Caught a moth that's already been caught!". When Soren says that Digger hasn't caught the moth, Digger retaliates with "But I was close! One might even say I was THIS close!". Gylfie jumps in on the conversation, Digger mistakes this moment for an ambush and says his famous catchphrase " 'Betcha you didn't count on this!!!" and starts digging while launching dirt in Soren's face. When Gylfie asks if they can have a place to hide and rest (Gylfie is wounded because one of the guards clawed her leg), Digger asks if they want to hide first and rest later, or rest first and hide later. When the young Elf Owl asks what the difference is, Digger says "If you want to hide first, then you're out of luck. But if you want to rest first then the situation is not so dire." So they decide to rest first.
After Digger reveals that he loves to tell owl related jokes, Digger's roommate, a Great Grey Owl named Twilight, appears with Soren's nursemaid, a Blind Snake named Mrs. P, in his mouth. He is planning on eating Mrs. P for dinner, but then Mrs. P offends Twilight by calling him a "Monstrosity". She then hisses at Twilight when he makes a comeback. If you listen closely, you can hear Mrs. P saying that doesn't like to hiss because hissing is improper and unladylike. When Soren says that he and Gylfie are going to see the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Twilight and Digger Tag along (with Twilight revealing that he is a musical poet, singing songs throughout the movie). Before they go, Twilight humorously calls the Sea of Hoolemere the Sea of Hoola-dance.
Anyway, When "The Band" (as they called by now) are almost at the Sea of Hoolemere, they get attacked by Crows, who steal Twilight's Lute (A lute is a kind of guitar). Although Digger (who hates poetry) is thankful that Twilight's only instrument is gone, he quickly realizes that they have to get the lute back because Mrs. P is riding INSIDE the lute.
After getting the Lute back, an echidna appears and says that their arrival to the island the Crows lead the Band to was foretold. When he says that he knows all, and asks Soren to state their desire, Gylfie notices that if the echidna knows all, how come he doesn't know where the Band is going. The Echidna then says that it was foretold that Gylfie would doubt his knowledge. After more hilariously accurate predictions from the echidna, Soren realizes that this echidna is the same echidna from his father's bedtime stories, the echidna that can guide you to where you want to go and he will tell you what the quickest way to that location is.
The echidna shows them a set of stars they must follow to reach the Tree of Ga'Hoole. The Band is almost there and they are caught in the ever lasting storm. And it's not a lightning storm. It is actually a snow storm. Digger's wings become frostbit, and he falls out of the sky. When Soren tries to find him, we see an Arctic Owl wearing golden armor rescuing Digger. We then see another Arctic Owl wearing smaller golden armor appearing and leading the rest of the Band to the Tree of Ga'Hoole.
These Arctic Owls are the Guardians of Ga'Hoole's King and Queen. This means that the Guardians are real. Because they have not appeared to non Guardians in such a long time, the non Guardian owls started believing that the Guardians are only fairy tales.
After telling their story, a Great Grey Owl named Allomere proclaims that the story is false, but a Whispering Screech Owl named Eyzlryb supports the story. After a brief conversation with Eyzlryb, Soren, Gylfie, Digger, and Twilight train to be Guardians, each one specializing in a different Chaw. You don't become a Guardian overnight, and the Chaws are squad units. Each Chaw has it's unique role before, during, or after a battle. Some Guardians are warriors, some are navigators, some are trackers, some might be a blacksmith. The types of Chaws are almost limitless.
After some training and a Gizzard-Fight (Gizzard-Flight is a flying technique which allows you to slow down time and pass through hazards unharmed) gone wrong, Soren finds out that Eyzlryb wrote the Chronicles of the Ice Claws (One of Soren's favorite stories. When Soren guessed that Eyzlryb is a scribe, Eyzlryb wrote the book based on what he saw when he was a soldier. Eyzlryb corrected himself when he said that he was the LEADER of all the soldiers during the Battle of the Ice Claws. Soren realizes that Eyzlryb is actually the very Guardian he idolizes: Lyze of Kiel.
Lyze of Kiel/Eyzlryb then says "Being a Guardian isn't brave, it isn't glorious, and it's not even heroic! It's only doing what's right, and doing it over and over, even if you look like this!". When he said "even if you look like this!", he was talking about how hideously battle-scarred he is. His right foot is amputated and all that remains of his right foot is a stump where the toes would be at. He is missing one talon on his left foot, and his feathers are permanently ruffled.
Allomere arrives at the Tree severely injured, carrying two Moon-Blinked owlets in a basket. And what's worse is that one of the owlets was Eglantine, Soren's sister. All one thousand Guardians take this as an act of war and take to arms. That means that the blacksmiths have to work overtime, polishing existing armor, creating new armor, and sharpening swords and battle claws (Battle Claws are armor owls wear over their talons they can cut through almost anything).
When Eglantine snaps out of the Moon-Blink, she reveals that Kludd has been too far corrupted by the Pure Ones, as Kludd is the one who Moon-Blinked her. What's worse is that Allomere was faking his wounds and Kludd GAVE Eglantine to Allomere. This means that Allomere is a traitor, and that the Guardians are heading straight into a trap.
When the Guardians take the bait, BOOM!!!! It's a trap!!!!! I know I type in "It's a trap!!!!!" when I first mention the trap, but how else was Soren supposed to know that Allomere is a traitor, Hmm? Smaller in size are we, but stronger in mind! Hey that's a quote from Jedi Master Yoda!!!! Well in the TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars is when Yoda said that. Anyway, it turns out that the Flecks that the Pure Ones were collecting was used to make a weapon that sucks the LIFE ENERGY out of owls.
When the Band arrives, Twilight (who sings a battle song), Digger, and Gylfie fight a swarm of Bats (who are supposed to kill the Guardians). Soren figures out a way to destroy the weapon and finds a pot filled with oil, and uses Gizzard-Flight to fly through a burning forest and ignite the oil within the pot, thus turning the pot into a bomb. He then flies up, the pot consumed by fire, and with the full moon rising behind him (exactly how Lyze said most people picture him) and does a steep dive. He becomes impaired by the weapon, but he is moving too fast to care. He tosses the bomb at the weapon, and BOOM!!!!!!!! This time I mean it literally!!!!!! The Weapon exploded!!!!!
Metal Beak then sends his entire army (and Nyra) to kill the Guardians and the Band and an epic fight scene that switches between slow motion and normal speed begins. In the midst of it all, we can see that Kludd has become completely evil and is fighting the Guardians to the death. So Soren jumps in the fight and an epic battle between brothers fight scene begins. The fight makes it's way to the burning forest and Kludd breaks his wing and begs Soren to help keep him from falling into the fire below.
But Kludd's evil surfaces again when he decides to try and kill Soren. Soren dodges the blow but Kludd falls in the fire, and dies. Meanwhile, Lyze of Kiel is fighting Metal Beak in Metal Beak's throne room. Soren hears the fight, blames Metal Beak for Kludd's death, and becomes consumed by rage. He takes a lit torch and sets out to kill Metal Beak.
And awesome fight between Metal Beak and Soren begins. Soren is cornered and has three seconds to grab the torch he dropped before Metal Beak can kill him. Soren grabs the torch just in time and stabs Metal Beak with it, killing Metal Beak. Nyra and the surviving Pure Ones retreat.
We then see that Soren's parents have somehow arrived at the Tree of Ga'Hoole and Noctus tells Soren that the stories are real because Soren made them real. And we see that the Guardians are making Soren, Gylfie, Digger, and Twilight official Guardians by giving them each a unique helmet.
But we can see that Kludd is alive, burned and gravely injured, but alive. He stumbles upon the dead body of Metal Beak, as well as his mask, which popped off. His eyes turn blood red and the scene shows that Soren was telling the story of the whole movie to the newest generation of Guardians, and they are wanting to ear the rest of the story because Soren stopped and asked if he should stop telling the story, not wanting to give them "Day-mares" (Owls' version of nightmares). After all, these new Guardians are just kids. The Movie ends with Lyze of Kiel and Soren practicing Gizzard-Flight in a lightning storm (Lyze calls lightning "Baddy-Wrinkles").
THE END
Here is an image from Wikipedia that is a picture of the major characters.
Soren, Eglantine, Digger, Twilight, and
Gylfie.
TRIVIA TIME
- The video game made a few inaccurate errors. The First two are with Soren. In the movie, Soren is white and golden brown in feather color, with a golden line shaped like a heart. In the video game, his feathers are completely black except the heart shaped line, which stays the same color. Also, in the movie, Soren used a pot filled with flaming oil to blow up the Flecks. In the video game, Soren used two flaming coals to blow up the Flecks. And the final error is how Allomere died. In the movie, several Bats killed him. But in the video game, the player's owl, Shard, throws Allomere at a wall, and a stalactite above him fell right on top of Allomere, killing him.
- The truth is that I do not know if the King and Queen of Ga'Hoole are Arctic Owls. They might be Albino Barn Owls. Albino means that a specimen in a species is completely white, but only two or three of that species will have that feature.
- Grimble appears to have met Lyze of Kiel. Because when he is teaching Soren and Gylfie to fly, Gylfie complains that her wings are too short. Grimble says that Lyze of Kiel's wings were short, and that didn't stop him. This is true because Lyze is a Whispering Screech Owl, and their wings are naturally short.
- The video game actually introduces two new Owl Kingdoms that were never seen in the movie: The Glauxian Brothers Retreat, and the Desert of Kunneer. Even though Gylfie mentions Kunneer when she first appears. Kunneer has several canyons, some narrow, some wide, perfect for speed racing. The Retreat is a snowy place, with the water dotted with broken ice and the ground completely covered with snow at least a foot deep.