Epic

Those familiar with my writing, would know that I have the softest of spots for this genre of cinema.  It takes a lot to make a quality animation movie.  And the least obvious aspect is probably the quality of animation.  I say that because in this day and age, with the amount of technology that one has access to, anyone can come up with animation of reasonable quality.

Maybe that’s what disappointed me about Epic.  I was really looking forward to some really high quality animation.  Something of the level of Toy Story or Finding Nemo.  While it was definitely good – as compared to some of the work that you see locally – there was definitely a lot to be desired.  Simple aspects like lip syncing were missed out obviously.  The perils of animation with human characters in the lead I suppose.

 

But what it lacks in animation quality, Epic makes up significantly in the aspect of the story.  A lot of animation movie makers ignore this aspect at their own peril. So full points to Epic on that count.  To think about and execute the concept of an entire world of “leaf men” was just mind blowing.  The characters such as the slugs and the snail just automatically fall into place.

 

Mary Katherine aka MK (Amanda Seyfried – Voice) has just come back to get her father back to his senses. Her father believes – and has so for time immemorial – that there is a whole world of little people in the jungle next to his house.  This has led to his marriage breaking up and therefore a life that is pretty much lonely.  MK comes back to give her relationship with her father one last shot.

 

But MK is about to be in for a surprise when she goes chasing after Ozzy – her three legged hyperactive pug into the jungle.  There she stumbles upon the leaf men being attacked by their arch enemy Mandrake (Christoph Waltz – Voice) and most importantly their Queen Tara (Beyoncé Knowles – Voice) passing away.  It is now MK’s responsibility to get a haloed pod to be the next queen before the end of the day.

 

Featuring the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Pittbull, Collin Farrel and Chris O’Dowd amongst others, Epic is a movie that is definitely enjoyable.  Especially in the summer when the kids need to be taken for a decent movie amongst the riff raff that’s coming through.  It is never short of action and thrills through its 90 minutes.  And it is very clean.  If only the animation was oh so slightly better.  6 on 10. Worth a dekko.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2981733913/?ref_=tt_ov_vi