EPIC (2013)

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Chris Wedge
Cast: Beyoncé Knowles, Colin Farrell, Steven Tyler, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Jason Sudeikis, Pitbull
RunTime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.epicthemovie.com/
 
Opening Day: 30 May 2013

Synopsis:  EPIC is a 3D animated fantasy adventure that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of ICE AGE and RIO, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good who keep the natural world alive and the forces of evil who wish to destroy it. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world…and ours.

Movie Review:

Lush flora and fauna set the picturesque backdrop for most of Blue Sky Studios' 3D CG adventure Epic, which follows the ongoing war between the miniature Leaf Men, an elf-like race that thrives on nature’s life-giving force, and their grey-skinned nemeses the Boggans. Imagine Lilliput set in the forest, with a good dose of fantasy. Led by the stoic General Ronin (Colin Farrell), the Leaf Men travel by hummingbird, leap like fleas, don bright green uniforms, and follow a code of honour to always have each other’s backs. They protect and maintain the balance of the natural world, in part by ensuring that their queen (Beyoncé Knowles) appoints her heir by transferring her powers via a special flower bud that blooms under the light of a full moon at its peak. The handover process is unceremoniously disrupted when the Boggans, under the charge of Mandrake (Christoph Waltz, doing what he does best), kill the queen and jeopardise the Leaf Men's future by threatening to infect everything that photosynthesises with toxic rot and decay.

Enter Mary Katherine, better known as M.K. (Amanda Seyfried), at the Leaf Men's time of greatest need, magically shrinking to their size presumably to serve an important role in saving their world. In addition to realizing that her father’s lifelong work in trying to prove the existence of a superior miniature race is true, M.K. bonds with the talented but immature young Leaf soldier Nod (Josh Hutcherson), and the comedic slug-and-snail pair Mub (Aziz Ansari) and Grub (Chris O'Dowd). This motley crew fights the impending army of Boggans who are bent on corrupting the bud and bringing a dark Boggan offspring into the world by ensuring it doesn’t get the requisite moonlight at the time of birth. Making a cameo is Aerosmith’s lead singer Steven Tyler as Nim Galuu, lending his well-weathered voice to a glowworm in charge of a knowledge database, portrayed in way rather reminiscent of the chain-smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.

Speaking of other animated films, it’s not easy to produce one that appeals to children, let alone to adults. It must hold the viewer's attention and be fuelled by creativity, lovable characters, witty or heartfelt exchanges, rapidfire action and of course, humour (the less canned, the better). Pixar’s Toy Story series, Wall-E and most notably Finding Nemo had most of these elements. Filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki fascinate to no end with never-seen-before stories crafted from dreamscapes.

Burdened with a hyperbolic title, Epic lacks originality despite being based loosely on William Joyce’s imaginative children’s picture book The Leaf Men. The author serves as a writer and producer on the film, alongside four other scriptwriters in addition to director Chris Wedge. Perhaps this is a classic example of too many cooks spoiling the broth: the plot feels unnecessarily convoluted, considering how at its core the story isn’t much different from a film like Avatar. It’s a pity when you look back at the promise Epic displayed in the first glimpse proffered by its preview trailer in mid-2012, which was played out against Snow Patrol’s dramatically elaborate The Lightning Strike (What if the Storm Ends?) and featured minimal dialogue.

What this shows is that while the film is a cacophony of colour and successfully creates a few laugh-out-loud moments, it falls flat in other aspects. The characters are typical, some even boring: M.K. barely has a personality; Mandrake is the evil villain you can substitute with, well, most other evil villains; Mub and Grub are deliberate comic relief. Even the handsome Nod looks like the identical twin of Flynn Rider from Disney’s 2010 Rapunzel remake Tangled, and is therefore indistinctive. The voice acting by Farrell, Waltz and Hutcherson are satisfactory, but their characters are not memorable enough to leave an impression after you’ve returned your 3D glasses. Perhaps the human story of a rekindled bond between father and daughter warranted more focus; if there was a beating heart in Epic, it laid within that subplot.

Movie Rating:

(Epic may not live up to its title, but it should be satisfactory for viewers with a soft spot for animation, light entertainment and copious amounts of green)

Review by Wong Keng Hui