“Epic” is the latest animated feature from Blue Sky Studios – the makers of the hugely successful “Ice Age” series. It’s directed by the studio’s co-founder Chris Wedge and is loosely based on the children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. All the elements were in place for this film to live up to its title. Unfortunately, “Epic” falls way short of that status.
Amanda Seyfried (“Les Miserables”) stars as the voice of Mary Katherine, or M.K. as she now wants to be called. Taking a page from the classic Disney animated movie script playbook, M.K. is dealing with the recent death of a parent, her mother, and now is being forced to live with her wacky father (former “SNL” star Jason Sudekis). Her parents had been divorced because dad was obsessed with the idea that there are tiny groups of people that live in the forest. M.K. also thinks her father is a little nutty.
But it turns out that dad is right! There is a large battle going on in the forest between two tiny armies: the Leafmen, whose job it is to keep everything healthy and growing. They protect the forest and its Queen (Beyonce Knowles) from theirĀ miniature enemies – the Boggans, who represent the forces of nature that killĀ all living things.
While chasing her 3-legged pet dog in the woods, M.K. meets-up with the Queen, who’s been injured, and she miraculously becomes tiny herself. M.K. is then given the responsibility of protecting a valuable flower bud that must bloom in the moonlight that night. She teams-up with Leafmen leader Ronin (Colin Farrell), teen love interest Nod (Josh Hutcherson) and a slug and snail named Mub and Grub (“Parks and Rec”‘s Aziz Ansari and “The Sapphires”‘s Chris O’Dowd). The bad guys, led by Mandrake (voiced by the great Christoph Waltz) are determined to destroy the Leafmen and kill-off everything that is living and beautiful in the forest.
If you think I mentioned death, destruction and killing a lot in that brief plot synopsis there’s a reason: these are the prominent elements in “Epic”. Everything that happens revolves around death, which is pretty shocking considering this is an animated movie aimed for kids. I tried to keep a running tally during the film of how many main characters are either directly effected by a death or actually die themselves – but they were coming so fast I lost track. The filmmakers even attempt to use death for laughs, in a bit involving a fruit fly. The need to rely on death so heavily to give this script drama and emotion shows a weakness in the writing and is unfortunate as it will turn-off a lot of people, especially parents of young ones who see “Epic.”
On the positive side, the animation is gorgeous. I interviewed Wedge and he told me that one of his goals in casting the voices was to not have the audience picturing the actors in their minds while watching the film. And for the most part he succeeded. The strengths of the voice cast are Seyfried, Waltz, and former “American Idol” judge Steven Tyler, who plays a large caterpillar who assists in protecting the flower bud. Mub and Grub are designed to be the comic relief pair (which every animated movie seems to have these days) but they don’t have great material to work with. And Farrell, who would be a good choice for this type of role in a live-action film, doesn’t have a strong enough voice to stand-out as an animated character.
The one thing that Blue Sky continues to struggle with is coming-up with truly, emotional stories. The screenplay here is bland, and it doesn’t have much to say. Wedge really wanted to make a big action movie. Well, there’s plenty of action and those scenes are well executed. Whether or not it’s “big” is up for debate.
“Epic” is rated PG for some mild action/violence and language. It’s appropriate for kids 8 and up. However, take the overall emphasis on death into consideration when determining who in your family should and shouldn’t see it. Young kids, who won’t be aware of all the deaths, may be the ones who enjoy this film the most, for the funny little people and creatures. But there’s just not enough depth in the story to satisfy older kids and adults.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Epic” gets a C+.