Epic is Interesting, But Derivative and Poorly Voice Acted at Times

When I was watching Epic, the beginning was really boring and just kept going. I was hoping for it to pick up and, thankfully, it did.

Epic is about a girl who gets shrunk down to size and meets this species called the leaf men. This film revolves around a battle between good and evil. The leaf men want to preserve nature and all of its beauty but the baddies want it to rot.

First, I’ll mention the good thing aspects of the film. The story is actually quite captivating, if not a bit derivative at times. It was full of surprises and took a route that I didn’t expect them to take.

The animation is unbelievably beautiful! My mouth dropped when I saw a photorealistic deer. It was amazing. It makes me regret not seeing the film in 3D. The set design and backgrounds are also really well done with an excellent attention to detail, down to the fingertip patterns on the father’s hands. My Mom even though we were watching a live action film during the first few seconds of the film!

However, while some of the characters are well developed, others are not. This is where the problems begin.

Let’s see who the voice actors are, shall we? We have Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried as the lead character, Beyonce as the Queen and Pitbull as some obnoxious slug. What are Beyonce and Pitbull doing in a film?! They aren’t even actors, and believe me, it shows in the film. This is what I call the Blue Sky formula. When they make a movie, they hire the most famous people to advertise their names in the advertisements and make more money.

There were some really good voice performances, though. For example, Christoph Waltz plays the main baddie and he does a very good performance

Another problem with the film is that it’s not as funny as other animated films. I am not saying that every animated film has to fit in the comedy genre, but this film actually wants to be funny. There were some parts where I was laughing out loud, but for a lot of the movie, the jokes are just dumb. The bad jokes are particularly said by the slug that is voiced by Pitbull. I can’t stand that slug! Not only is he extremely annoying (he only said a few funny lines), he is also very underdeveloped and one dimensional as a character.

There are a few ideas that I found interesting, though. I love how to the leaf men, people and other animals are in slow motion, just like what the girl’s father told her about bugs. However, this is actually kind of weird because only some of the animals are in slow motion whereas others such as a giant (but normal sized) mouse they encounter moves at a normal pace.

Also, in that particular scene, if they wanted to break that rule and show a fight between the girl and that mouse, they could have at least made it a bit more…. epic. Instead, it’s just filled with gags that really weren’t that funny.

Another interesting idea in the film is the fact that every single movement by every single person is recorded and stored in this huge, multi floored cave.

Another big problem I have with the film is how modernized they made it. An iPod plays a key role in helping the characters. I hate when films rely on pop culture. If someone were to watch this film 5 years later, they would ask, “What’s an iPod?”

The film is very well directed. Some of the shots and camera angles in this film are very well done, particularly during the action scenes, which had plenty of shots that were very epic in scope. The film really shines during the action scenes.

Overall, Epic is actually pretty epic, but could have been even more epic. Instead, poor voice acting from some of the actors, bad jokes (except for a few funny ones) and pop culture references only held the film back.

Film Grade: B-