[Movie Review] Epic (2013)
Plot Summary: A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world — and ours.
Director: Chris Wedge
Writers: James V. Hart (screenplay & story), Daniel Shere (screenplay), Tom J. Astle (screenplay), Matt Ember (screenplay), William Joyce (screenplay & story), based ont he books “The Leaf Men” and “The Brave Good Bugs” by William Joyce
Runtime: 102 min
Main Cast:
- Amanda Seyfried as Mary Katherine
- Josh Hutcherson as Nod
- Colin Farrell as Ronin
- Beyonce Knowles as Queen Tara
- Christoph Waltz as Mandrake
- Jason Sudeikis as Professor Bomba
Review: by Nena
The plot is reminiscent of Fern Gully (human accidentally gets shrunk down to tiny size, meets magical people of the forest, has to save forest from toxic enemy, falls in love with magical person along the way, etc.) but is different enough that I wouldn’t consider it a total rip-off.
The animation was pretty good and realistic-looking.
The humor, while not consistently funny, had its moments, including a memorable joke that features the life cycle of a fruit fly.
Aziz Ansari and Chris O’Dowd were excellent as the slug and snail comedy relief duo, Mub and Grub.
I also liked that it wasn’t a “musical” movie. There was only one song during the movie itself, which was sung by Steven Tyler as Nim Galuu. He thankfully gets cut off before he can even finish the first verse.
What I Didn’t Like:
The majority of the voice acting was terrible and dealt a serious blow to my enjoyment of this movie. Not only did Beyonce and Pitbull sound flat and unemotional, one of my fellow reviewers brought up a good point in that the voices felt disconnected, almost as though the characters weren’t talking to each other. It’s entirely possible that none of the cast were in the same room together when they recorded their lines, and it definitely shows. This movie is a shining example of why casting big celebrities for your voice talent doesn’t always work out.
I also didn’t like that certain parts of the ending are left ambiguous, which probably means they’re aiming for a sequel.
Overall:
I was disappointed. This movie could have been much better than it turned out to be. If you have children, go ahead and take them to see it. They’ll probably love it. If you don’t have children, I’d recommend skipping it in theaters. This is a “wait for it to come out on Netflix/DVD” movie at best.
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
