Epic
Year: 2013
Rating: PG
Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours
One reason I loved the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) growing up was the different perspective it brought. When characters are tiny, a yard can be a vast forest. Steps are enormous cliffs. Danger is multiplied. This is not an original idea by any means, but shrinking down characters to experience a much smaller world seems to always have some merit. Even books like Micro have touched on this subject. Epic (2013) is merely another entry in the “miniaturization” trope, but with some good action and world-building to back it up.
As with many films like this, Epic wraps its main character, M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) in the troubled trappings of a teenager who is somewhere she does not want to be. It takes an adventure in the nearby woods to appreciate her nerdy father (Jason Sudeikis) and his attempts to connect with her. This revelation is only loosely connected to the battle between good and evil, where the leaf men must protect the forest from the decay brought on by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz). Ultimately, it is up to M.K. to bridge the gap between the larger and smaller worlds and save the day.
The animation in Epic is passable. Nothing to write home about, but not terrible either. Unfortunately, it also feels the need to add comedic relief with the slug/snail combo—an overdone trope for these kinds of audiences. They mostly come off as annoying, but I get their appeal to the target demographic. The fantasy world-building is better than most here, and the aesthetic to go with it is well thought out—aerial battles and all. Overall, a good movie for kids that adults won’t necessarily have to suffer through.
A middle-of-the-road animated film that has some world-building strengths, I give Epic 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
