Epic

Everyone has been waiting a long time for a Josh Hutcherson, Aziz Ansari, Beyonce team-up to come and that’s exactly what we get with Epic. Sure they only provide the voices for the animated feature and no one in fact asked for such collaboration, but the varied cast is definitely a fun one to run through. The story follows a human girl who is mysteriously shrunk down and thrust into a secret civilization. Once there, she helps a group protect the forest from a powerful enemy.

The script is sound in never stepping on their own mythology. The civilization is a confusing one, but the viewers are given the necessary pieces to follow what is going on. With that being said, I constantly felt like I had missed something or that I wasn’t catching on quick enough. It turns out I was over-analyzing it, but I’m curious how children will approach it. Visually, Blue Sky Studios always does nice work. The expansive forest and bright colors that fill the fantasy world look great. Having both animated humans and creatures, there is a balance that gives all of them a good balance between realistic and cartoony.

As for that cast I alluded to earlier, the variety of voices we get is entertaining. It is a bit of a distraction as every scene left me asking who the voices were. That tends to be the issue when the voice actors are well known celebrities. The funniest moments are written for Ansari and Chris O’Dowd who play a slug and a snail respectively. But other than that, none of the roles really stand out with exceptional acting. Overall, Epic falls short of its ambitious title. The film is successful visually and story wise, but it doesn’t have the personality that popular animated franchises like Ice Age or Shrek have.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.