Epic (2013)
Certified: U
Duration: 102 mins
Directed by: Chris Wedge
Voices of: Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Chris O’Dowd, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Blake Anderson, Judah Friedlander
KRS release
Mary Katherine aka MK (Amanda Seyfried) is going to live with her father Prof. Bomba (Jason Sudeikis) following the death of her mother. Her father is on a search for miniature people who live in the woods with the snails and insects.
The action sequences show that careful thought has been placed in the choreography
It is this obsession with work that has helped to break up his marriage and deprive him of a meaningful relationship with his daughter. Their relationship does not get better. On the point of leaving she ends up chasing Ozzie, their three-legged dog, and ends up in the forest.
Life will never be the same.
The little people do exist, and they are at war trying to preserve the balance of life. Queen Tara (Beyoncé Knowles) needs to carry out a ritual in which the hero and guardian of the forest is chosen. Against her is the Boggan tribe, who are all out for chaos to reign and are led by Mandrake and his son Dagda (Christoph Waltz and Blake Anderson).
In the battle that ensues, Tara is wounded even if the Leafmen warriors led by Ronin (Colin Farrell) put up a valiant fight. That is the scene in which MK ends up, which leads to her being brought down to the little people’s size!
She is also given the job of taking a pod to Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler), who is the caterpillar that archives all the scrolls. She ends up on this mission accompanied by the snail Grub (Chris O’Dowd) and the slug Mub (Aziz Ansari). Then there is Nod (Josh Hutcherson), a Leafman who only now makes his reappearance and does not have everyone’s trust.
Kids’ holidays are just around the corner, and Epic will defin-itely serve its time as filler-in for school as it mixes entertainment, action, fantasy and environment-friendly messages into the process with very good results.
Epic is based on the book by William Joyce titled The Leafmen and the Brave Good Bugs, and directed by Chris Wedge of the first Ice Age film (2002) and Robots (2005). The film has a good artistic pedigree, and this is seen in its approach and the visuals that are presented on screen.
While I can understand the title change, the title Epic is too generic and not catchy enough, at the same time presenting an idea of the film that is not entirely correct.
One of the film’s most striking components is the digital animation, which is vibrant, sophisticated and very beautiful. The colours just shine off the screen, mostly in the way green is used. The visuals complement and bring to the fore some of the exciting sequences that the film has, such as when MK has to ride on insects or fend off a hungry mouse.
The action sequences show that careful thought has been placed in their choreography and staging. The characters are well drawn, with the slug and the snail particularly bringing in a comic effect.
In the voicing department the highlight has to be Christoph Waltz, who turns Mandrake into a worthwhile screen villain even though he is a little guy! Surprise of surprises, it is Beyoncé who ends up hogging the spotlight as the Mother Nature sort of figure as she gives enough shades in her vocal delivery to make the character very believable.
The film follows in the same vein as the recent films Rise of the Guardians and Kung-Fu Panda, and has a sort of 1980s retro feel with a sprinkle of Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1989) thrown in for good measure. This serves to give the film its quaint and charming feel.