‘Epic’ is epically disappointing
Being a sucker for all things environmental, I had a great deal of enthusiasm for Epic, the new animated film about a small world that lives among the greens of the forest canopy. The trailer offered stunning visuals, and the premise seemed like Avatar on a toddler level.
The end result, however, is disappointing. The visuals are still stunning, but the story and characters that reside within these 100 minutes are dull and overly simplistic. The Chris Wedge-directed feature fails to live up to admittedly lofty expectations.
M.K. (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) returns to the country home of her father (Jason Sudeikis), an eccentric man who believes there’s a wide world of shotglass-sized humans and talking animals living in the nearby forest. He has devoted his life to building a number of contraptions to catch their wisps around the greenery, and his daughter instantly thinks he’s losing his mind.
M.K., the skeptic, becomes M.K., the believer, after she is magically transported to the tiny world where blades of grass seem like skyscrapers. She quickly finds herself in the middle of an “epic” battle between righteous soldiers and villainous baddies. Deciding to help the good team, M.K. sticks around and begins formulating plans to help the community survive.
The entire plot is an allegory for the dwindling resources of the environment. Wedge and his screenwriting team (there are several writers) hit the audience over the head with this eco-message, almost to the point where the resounding call to arms sounds tiresome and tedious. This is perhaps Epic’s greatest failure: The potential to teach children (and adults) about the value of environmental conservation and unique habitats is a powerful opportunity. Building the narrative around a culture on the brink of extinction seems OK on paper, but the film’s creators never let their creations breathe and take flight. Every few minutes it feels like the characters come back to the “lessons to be learned.”
For example, Steven Tyler voices Nim Galuu, a wise, Yoda-like character who seems to only speak in cheesy slogans. He offers that wisdom because the creators gave that particular character that particular characterization. Aziz Ansari provides humor with his character Mub, again because that’s the scope of his character. These simplistic constructs might work in a toddler’s cinematic world, but in the age of Pixar, more subtlety is needed.
The one saving grace (and it’s a substantial one) is the beautiful landscape where this culture lives. The green imagery, all CGI created, can be breathtaking, and Wedge has much of the action play out in fast-forward motion. The chases and battle scenes are enormously staged and quick-paced, giving audience members a chance to have closeup action followed by wide-angle panoramas. The often-scouraged 3D technology does seem to work for Epic.
Unfortunately, the beauty, variety and fine detail of the visuals are not carried over to the characters or story, so this world doesn’t leave a lasting impression. That’s a shame.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
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Epic
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2013
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Directed by Chris Wedge
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Written by James V. Hart, William Joyce, Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember and Daniel Shere; based on a story by Wedge, Joyce and Hart
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Featuring the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Aziz Asnari, Steven Tyler, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Beyoncé and Christoph Waltz
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Running time: 100 minutes
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Rated PG for mild action, some scary images and brief rude language
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Rating:
