My Movie Review on Epic (2013) (Plus, a Bonus) · 7:46pm Apr 22nd, 2021
Happy Earth Day, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I'm gonna give you guys my take of Blue Sky Studios's "Epic".
Here's the rundown of this tale:
Mary Katherine, or M.K. for short, is a 16-year-old girl who revisits her father at her childhood home in the forest. Her overall intention is to somehow reconnect with him after her mother died, but his drive to somehow find a secret civilization of tiny humanoid soldiers called the Leafmen causes their relationship to be all-the-more strained.
In the midst of this, Queen Tara, the protector and leader of the forest, must choose an heir to take her place in case anything were to happen to her. After she chooses a pod to declare who the heir will be, though, she and her bodyguards are attacked by the Bogans, an army of ravenous creatures who want to destroy the forest and are led by the villainous King Mandrake. Unfortunately, Queen Tara is shot and wounded during the attack. In a desperate attempt to keep the pod safe and make sure the Boggans don't get it, Tara leaves it in the hands of someone whom others would likely not expect to take on such a task: M.K., whom Tara shrinks down to the size of her people.
Accompanied by a rookie warrior named Nod, Captain Ronin of the Leafman army, Mub the Slug, and Grub the Snail, M.K. must find a place for the pod to bloom in order to ensure a bright future for the forest. Especially since it's the only way she could return to normal size.
In all honesty, I wasn't originally going to review this film at first. However, I later decided to do so since the film was apparently compared with "Ferngully: The Last Rainforest" and "Avatar (2009)" by many people. With Blue Sky Studios closing down this year anyway, I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity to review another one of their films. So, I did just that.
The movie wasn't something I saw in theaters or grew up with like most other films, but I remember seeing multiple commercials promoting it when it was coming to cinemas and while it was out, as well as watching a trailer of it from iTunes. Overall, I wasn't unaware of the film nor did I feel like a complete stranger to it.
After finally seeing the whole thing recently while it was on Disney+, I can say that in my opinion..."Epic" is truly epic. It surprised me in more ways than one too!
For instance, the direction by Chris Wedge, the story by him, William Joyce (who also wrote the book this film was based on, "The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs"), and James V. Hart, and the screenplay by Joyce, Hart, Daniel Shere, Tom J. Astle, and Matt Ember, were extremely excellent. And that's even including the uncredited writing contributions of Joe Ballarini.
As I watched the movie, I did note that it carried elements similar to Ferngully. But, I was amazed to find how much the film managed to be its own thing nonetheless. Examples being that it has its own take on a society of tiny human-like creatures, the heroes have their own method for how the forest can be saved, M.K. is shrunk for a reason that's unlike why Zack got shrunk in Ferngully, and the villains are a different kind of destructive threat to the forest. It takes a creative team of filmmakers to take inspiration from something while not directly copying it, and that's something I highly commend.
Along with that, the story tied itself together pretty well, in that hardly any element was out of place and proved to be essential. Whether the filmmakers intended on making "Epic" a comedy in some ways isn't in my knowledge banks, but I thought that Wedge and company did a great job at incorporating enough funny bits to make it one. Each joke throughout the movie was surprisingly well-worked and executed to a tee, and I can't recall a single moment that didn't make me laugh. The movie also had a great amount of emotion and heart that was deeply soul-tugging, and I was at the edge of my seat hoping that the heroes would accomplish their mission to protect the pod and save the forest.
The animation was amazing, if I may add.
From the very moment I started watching the movie after getting past the company logos, I noted that the visualization was like that of a three-dimensional storybook. It not only complimented the fact that the movie was an adaption of the book by William Joyce, but it got me enraptured because of how well the animators did with creating the environments and settings. It definitely seemed like Blue Sky was in top form here.
The voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were likewise terrific.
It was amazing to see even the most unusual of casting choices turn out to be surprisingly perfect for the featured parts, and the performers portrayed their characters so well that it was like they did more than just provide the voices. Each performer gave their characters a wonderful sense of personality and depth, and whatever pieces of dialogue they had they projected with emotion and flavor. A prime example of this comes from Christoph Waltz's portrayal of Mandrake.
The characters themselves were ones that I found to be deeply fun to hang with, and the best part was that none of them were without development or an important purpose. In my opinion, the characters with the most significant of developments were M.K. and Nod, and Mandrake was perhaps one of the best villains in Blue Sky's filmography. Plus, I liked that Mub and Grub were more than just mere comic reliefs of the film.
Finally, the music by Danny Elfman was marvelous.
As the very first Blue Sky film to not be composed by John Powell since the first Ice Age film, I enjoyed how emotionally-invested Elfman's music was. His score captured the tone of the movie splendidly, and the way it reflected the personalities and emotions of the characters was like the music was born and bred from Elfman's soul. In every way, Elfman's music felt as three-dimensional as the movie.
In conclusion, "Epic" is a film that's very true to its name, and it's a lot more fun than people would likely expect. As another movie done by the now defunct Blue Sky Studios, it's definitely another one of their treasures.
So, I rate "Epic" five out of five stars.
As a little bonus for you guys, I've decided to share with you guys a paint-by-number I recently completed:
This painted was something I worked on from February 21, 2021-April 21, 2021.
The only thing i DIDNT like about the film was the new queen.
I wanted, and i still wish, for MK to have been chosen, instead of that little kid.
Other than that i agree with you!
An awesome and great review. I feel encouraged to watch it.
Also beautiful artwork too.
5504124
I can understand that. I too was all in for seeing M.K. being upgraded from commoner to queen, although at the same time...I would not have wanted her to be lost to her father either.
Hi
I haven't watched Epic, but I hope this is as good as you saw. Too bad I don't have the DVD.
5504139
well, im sure she would have found a way to explain and communicate, but.....yes, indeed.
5504124
5504139
Personally, I'm glad they didn't go down that particular route. The 'commoner becomes new ruler' trope is a bit of an old cliche.
5514432
Still I think that MK earned it
5514493
I can see why you think that.