Rise of the Guardians: Vol. 2

Rise of the Guardians: Vol. 2 is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated action-adventure fantasy dramedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to 2012's Rise of the Guardians, it is based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series and The Man in the Moon short film by Joyce and Reel FX Creative Studios. Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Christina Steinberg directed the movie with Joyce and Guillermo del Toro being executive producers of the film. Peter Ramsey, the director of the first movie, did not return for the film due to his occupation with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 but remained as both creative consultant and additional story artist.

The film stars Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher and Hugh Jackman, reprising their character roles from the first film, with Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Dustin Hoffman, Jacob Tremblay, and Ruby Barnhill joining the cast.

Set several months after the first film, the plot revolves around the Guardians trying to save the world from both Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser who have very powerful weapons that they plan to destroy children's imaginations with. However, Toothiana discovers a terrifying secret about her past, and discovers that The Ripper has something to do with it.

The film was released on July 6, 2023 and unlike it's predecessor, received largely positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, voice acting, musical score, action sequences, emotional depth, character development, Gary Oldman's Performance (Which marks another time one of DreamWorks Villains actors got a Oscar the others being Sam Witwer In HTTYD4, Liam Neeson in HTTYD5, Bryan Cranston in HTTYD6, Thomas Middleditch in Shrek 5, Charles Dance In Shrek 6, Steven Piovesan In KFP4, Noah Watts In KFP5 And Dan Jeanotte in KFP6) and darker, more serious tone compared to its predecessor, although the plot was criticized as a derivative of both Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rise of the Guardians. The film grossed $950 million worldwide against its $180 million budget. It is also the first DreamWorks Animation film to be rated PG-13 as it has a lot of thematic elements throughout.

Plot
The film starts with a story of the The fairies of Teeth. During their time, they were collecting Teeth and giving stuff to children who lost their Teeth. The king and queen had a Baby girl named Princess Toothiana as she was set to be the future Queen. In London a boy by the name of Jack The lad was released from the asylum that he was in, fully grown up, Jack tried looking for some people to care for but was rejected a lot cause people at the time believed in the Tooth Fairies so the boy got mad and led genocide on them, Young Toothiana and her parents watched the stars as Toothiana was so ready to become Queen but her parents told her a lesson that will stay with her forever that being "While no one has a happy start to their Story that doesn't make them who they are for its the rest of their story and who they who they choose to be" Before Toothiana could go to sleep a big mob is seen led by Jack to kill the Fairies. The king ordered an evacuation while the Queen had to find a way to secure their future for their daughter. But Jack broke in and battles the king and the Queen, killing them instantly and finds Toothiana, who is trying to escape.

Toothiana reaches her balcony where she could jump and commit suicide. Jack The Ripper breaks down the doors and charges at her, Toothiana, left with no choice, jumps and is never seen again until much later in time.

Centuries later, the Man in the Moon warns Nicholas St. North that Heat Miser and his new friend (Jack The Ripper) will be threatening children of the world with a weapon. He calls Bunnymund, Toothiana, Sandy, and Jack Frost to arms.

Before they could talk, Heat Miser and his men Attack the North Pole and the Guardians defend very well. Heat Miser Charges Towards Tooth and shows he's got a symbol on his sword. Tooth has a flashback of a building being set on fire, Tooth gets kicked back into a pillar and heat miser escapes. Everyone regains their strength but Tooth looked troubled and flies back home. Baby Tooth is seen giving orders and flies over to Tooth and hugs a little bit. Tooth looks at a photo of her and Baby Tooth together like Mother And daughter.

The Guardians receive word that Jack The Ripper And Heat Miser have killed Nightlight, Taken over the Spirit Realm And are forcing the Guardians to come. Manny sends the Guardians to stop both but Tooth doesn't want to do anything with it especially with her memories that she doesn't want to talk about even Jack.

During their journey, the five heroes create a complete strategy to get the palace, find the whereabouts of Katherine and Timekeeper, stop Jack The Ripper/Heat Miser and save the world. The plan works out perfectly with the whereabouts being imprisoned in Jack's lair. The heroes ask the council members for help to liberate children's lives, but the two surviving members cite their helplessness against Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser's plan and refuse, forcing the Guardians to make the attempt alone. The five are then ambushed by The Ripper's forces.

Placed in restraints, they are brought before Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser in their palace. Both refused to believe that five dysfunctional legends could possibly threaten them, Jack The Ripper reveals that he's the descendant of Lord Shen And Grimmel The Ripper While Heat Miser is the descendant of Rumpelstiltskin And Chantel Duboui and they say Jack Frost is the descendant of Po And Hiccup while Toothiana is the descendant of Tigress And Astrid. while Father Time realizes that one of the five heroes (Tooth) has no knowledge of what The Ripper did to her in her past. As per their plan, the Guardians free themselves and destroy the large weapon. Unfortunately, Tooth is once again distracted by flashbacks upon seeing a combination of both nightmare sand and fire, allowing both London's Notorious Mass Murderer and the fire spirit to escape. The heroes discover, to their horror, that Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser have created a whole arsenal of weapons and they barely escape the tower while Jack and Heat Miser destroy it with a salvo attack. Hiding in The Ripper's lair, Jack Frost demands to know why Tooth froze and says they will leave her behind if she can't be counted on in battle. Tooth at first refuses to confess about her flashbacks, but ultimately relents and tells him that Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser both know what happened to her biological parents. She says that Jack Frost probably can't understand, but that she has to know the answer and that she will confront them with or without the Guardians. Jack Frost then suddenly hugs Tooth, much to the surprise of everyone else, and tells her that he does understand, but can't watch his love die. He tells her to remain with Katherine and Timekeeper for her own protection while he and the others attempt to stop Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser's weapons at the source.

Still determined to find out what Pitch Black and Heat Miser know, Tooth ignores Jack Frost and decides to break into the weapon foundry to question them about her memories, inadvertently foiling the Big Four's plan of blowing it to bits. In the ensuing battle, Tooth faces Jack The Ripper who sadistically claims that her parents abandoned her out of hate before Heat Miser blasts the young girl point-blank with a giant cannon into the Antarctic river, where she is presumed dead.

Toothiana survives and is rescued by Baby Tooth and Father Time. When she regains consciousness, Father Time tells her that she lived in a palace far away from London when she was born and unconscious repressed memories of her fight to come to the surface. Guided by Father Time and Baby Tooth to cherish the past and let it rise, Tooth's memories come back as she witnesses the destruction of her home and her mother and father's death. Given the lie of Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser's cruel claim of abandonment, she sees instead that her parents endangered and sacrificed themselves to save her by hiding her in a forest and luring Jack's army away from him. Her memories move to her ancestors adoption of the 3 by the going through similar journeys in their world's and how Tooth conquered her most deepest and darkest insecurities to achieve hee most cherished dreams with help from his new friends, the Guardians. At that, Tooth comes to realize that the past does not define him as much as her present choices, allowing to attain measures of power from within her even while he prepares to confront the two murdering spirits. While also saying that she is Toothiana: Descendant of Tigress And Astrid.

Meanwhile, Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser capture the Guardians who are trying to stop their war fleet from departing and prepares to kill them as an example of their power combined as soon as they clear Europe into fear. However, Tooth arrives to confront Jack The Ripper and manages to free the Guardians, beginning a massive battle to destroy Jack The Ripper and Heat Miser's mega weapon before it reaches Europe that soon includes the Man in the Moon and the Guardian helpers who both also convinced Timekeeper and Katherine to participate. The attempt to stop the fleet fails and the heroes are left floating in outer space amongst the wreckage.

Regardless, Tooth stands her ground and astounds everyone when she cuts The incoming shots from Heat Miser's weapon fire, and redirects it back to his armada. In doing so, Tooth devastates the fleet and his weapons through his newly-discovered powers alone (Killing Heat Miser) and confronts Jack The Ripper on his flagship. There, Tooth rejects that his horrific past dominates him and urges the Jack The Ripper to let go with the grievances of his past. However, Jack The Ripper refuses and hatefully tries to attack hed. In the melee, Jack The Ripper unintentionally slashes the ropes holding up his weapon, which then falls and kills him. Tooth soon reunites with the other Guardians and they celebrate their victory with fireworks.

Back in the Tooth Palace, Toothiana And Baby Tooth return home where they just want at least one day off work. The next day, the entire fairy tribe celebrates Christmas Day, however the Guardians end up calling Tooth again for another mission. She leaves her family and promises to return in time for dinner, before the Guardians get all set for a new adventure.

In a Post Credit Scene a Teddy Bear along with a Jack In The Box and dark elves bow before Krampus: The Christmas Devil And descendant of Kai The collector And Drago Bludvist.

Cast

 * Chris Pine as Jack Frost, the spirit of winter, Descendant of Po And Hiccup and the Guardian of Fun. Jack Frost is a teenage hellion who enjoys creating mischief and has no interest in being bound by rules or obligations.
 * Alec Baldwin as North (Santa Claus), the leader of the guardians, and the Guardian of Wonder. He lives at the North Pole in his Ice Castle and is served by loyal North Pole natives, the Yetis (who built the castle and workshop) and the Christmas Elves. He carries a Russian accent/culture persona.
 * Hugh Jackman as Bunnymund (Easter Bunny), the Australian-accented fabled keeper and bringer of Easter eggs and the Guardian of Hope. He has an Australian accent.
 * Isla Fisher as Tooth Fairy, or Tooth for short, the mythical tooth collector, Descendant of Tigress And Astrid and the Guardian of Memories. Tooth is part human and part hummingbird. Assisted by mini fairies that are split-off extensions of herself, she collects the children's teeth, which hold their most precious memories. Tooth stores them in her palace and returns memories when they are needed the most."
 * The Sandman, or Sandy for short, the Guardian of Dreams is the oldest of the Guardians and the first Guardian chosen by Man in the Moon. He does not speak, but communicates through sand images that he conjures above his head.
 * Gary Oldman as Jack The Ripper (London's Most Wanted Killer), the essence of fear, the descendant of Lord Shen And Grimmel The Grisly, and the first primary antagonist.
 * Aaron Eckhart as Heat Miser, a fiery spirit, Descendant of Rumpelstiltskin And Chantel Duboui and second primary antagonist.
 * Christopher Lloyd as Father Time, a wise and powerful old wizard and a temporary advisor to Pitch Black and Heat Miser.
 * Patrick Warburton as Timekeeper, Father Time's brother and the Guardian of Time.
 * Kristin Chenoweth as Katherine, a foundling girl and the Guardian of Storytelling.
 * Jacob Tremblay as Brightlight, Nightlight/Jack Frost's legacy cousin and the Guardian of Nighttime.
 * Dustin Hoffman as the Man in the Moon, He's an active observer of the transpiring events of the world, and the very first Guardian.
 * Ruby Barnhill as Baby Tooth, one of Toothiana's subordinate mini fairies.
 * Andy Serkis As Krampus, The Christmas Devil, Descendant of Kai the collector and Drago Bludvist.
 * Cillian Murphy As Evil Teddy Bear, One of Krampus's Minions.
 * Michael Fassbender As Jack In The Box, One of Krampus's Minions.
 * Michael Fassbender As Jack In The Box, One of Krampus's Minions.