Review of Epic (2013) by Criticwes — 24 May 2013

EPIC.

Epic is a 3D computer-animated feature from the makers of Ice Age. It is based on William Joyce's childrens book The Leaf and the Brave Good Bugs. It stars Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables), Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained). It's about a teenage girl who is magically transformed into the size of a bug upon encountering a hidden world of creatures living deep within the forest. She finds herself thrust into a battle with a race of tiny warriors and must help them stop a heinous force of evil from killing all of the life around them.

The world in which this movie was set was very imaginative and creative. While I found it to be visually stunning and the 3D animation to be quite amazing, the story itself just didn't quite hit the mark. It was more dark and dramatic than most other animated films I've seen. It was somewhat morbid for a movie geared towards children and any moments of comic relief were few and far between. Mostly, I felt it was lacking in the depth of the characters and therefore left me a bit uninterested at times.

I liked most of the action sequences and it was fun to watch in 3D. While some of the attempts at humor fail to cause laughter, there were some funny moments with a duo made up of a slug and a snail played by Aziz Ansari (30 Rock) and Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids). Aside from the visuals, they were the highlight of the movie.

On the upside, when walking out of the theater, I did hear a lot of the children saying they enjoyed the movie.

In my opinion, Epic is a little disappointing and doesn't quite live up to its title.

This movie also features the voices of Colin Farrell, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Beyonce Knowles, Pitbull, Judah Freelander, and Blake Anderson.