Epic

 

The second animated movie in less than a year to be based on one of William Joyce's books (the other being Rise of the Guardians, from back in November), Epic doesn't quite live up to its lofty name, but its a perfectly entertaining film nonetheless.  The movie borrows heavily from other films, but at least it attempts a plot and features characters I found myself liking, unlike The Croods, and it doesn't feel as generic as Escape from Planet Earth.

The movie reveals to us a hidden war that has supposedly been raged within the balance of nature for centuries.  This war happens within a forest, and is fought between the noble Leafmen, tiny armored insect-sized people who ride on hummingbirds and represent life and growth, and the evil beast-like Boggans, who represent decay and want to destroy the forest.  Watching the movie, I had to wonder - Do the Leafmen and Boggans only exist in this one forest, or are they fighting all over the world?  It's an interesting question that this movie unfortunately avoids.  The plot kicks off when Mandrake, the ruler of the Boggans (voice by Christoph Waltz), attacks the Leafmen Queen (Beyonce Knowles), and steals a magical flower bud that can represent new life for the forest.  With the control of the magical life-giving bud, Mandrake can pervert its powers to darkness, and turn the the entire forest into rot.

Into this fierce battle for control of nature walks an ordinary teenage girl named Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried).  With the recent passing of her mother, she's been sent to live with her eccentric scientist father (Jason Sudeikis), who knows of the existence of the Leafmen, and has been trying to learn more about him.  Mary Katherine is inadvertently pulled into the Leafmen's world when she is shrunk by the power of the magical flower bud, and is chosen by the Queen to guard it and bring it to safety.  She's paired up with a cocky young Leafman named Nod (Josh Hutcherson), who serves as her romantic interest, as well as his stoic and serious protector and soldier mentor, Ronin (Colin Farrell).  Also along for the journey are the prerequisite comic relief, this time a comedic duo of a slug named Mub (Aziz Ansari) and his snail friend Grub (Chris O'Dowd).  The comedic bantering of this pair is actually quite funny, and helps soften the somewhat serious tone of the film itself.

Epic has a strong eco-message behind it, though it's fortunately not as heavy-handed as the one employed by another animated film that this one somewhat resembles, 1992's Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. (Both concern ordinary people being shrunk and brought into a magical forest world of hidden, tiny creatures.) Besides, it's more interested in telling a thrilling adventure story for young children, and I think that's what got me involved.  Yes, I would have preferred a slightly less "black and white" approach to the characters (the Leafmen are all good and fair-skinned, while the evil Boggans are dark-skinned, lurk in shadows, and wear animal husks), but I understand that such a simplistic approach is unfortunately common in animation.  Regardless, director Chris Wedge (Ice Age) and his team of five credited screenwriters still manage to create a beautiful fantasy world out of ordinary woodland surroundings, and the characters have just enough personality that they don't come across as total dullards.

Speaking of the characters, I should bring up my one major complaint in the film, which is some unfortunate stunt casting that the filmmakers employed just so they could put a few more famous names above the title.  I have no problem with the voice performances offered by Seyfried, Hutcherson, Farrell, Waltz, Sudeikis, Ansari, or O'Dowd.  Where the acting goes a little astray is how the filmmakers hired recording artists to play some of the supporting roles.  I already mentioned Beyonce Knowles as the voice of Queen Tara, ruler of the Leafmen.  Besides that, we also have Pitbull in the very minor and pointless role as a gambling frog, and Steven Tyler (yes, the lead singer of Aerosmith) providing the voice of a wise old caterpillar who holds ancient scrolls of knowledge.  It's somewhat distracting hearing their voices behind these characters, and harkens back to the early days of Dreamworks animation, when they used to put more emphasis on the celebrity name than the character they were playing.  I'm sure kids won't mind, but adults will probably spend more time focused on the voice, than what's going on in the story.

 

Epic is not all that original, but it has enough adventure, humor, beautiful artwork, and individual moments that work that I am recommending it.  Kids are sure to love it, while adults will find themselves laughing from time to time, and enjoying the well-staged action sequences.  It's not the great animated film that 2013 has been waiting for, but it certainly does its job well enough.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

0 comments