Review: Epic

Disney may be going down the drain, but there's still a handful of great animated movies out there, and this is one of them. Now, it's not quite up to Croods or Emperor's New Groove levels, but it sure gets close. From the beautiful animation and soundtrack to the well-rounded plot and characters, it has a lot of entertainment value to offer - and not a lot of nasty stuff either.

So while I wish Epic had more depth and value to it, as far as entertainment goes, it's probably up in the top 10 animated movies for me. It's also the first movie I ever spent my own money on, so maybe there's nostalgic value as well. XD

Aherm. That aside, let's dig into the review before I go on a loooonnnngggg bunny trail. XD

Epic by BlueSky Studios

(As a warning, there might maybe be spoilers in here. So beware. I’ll make sure the spoilers are alerted, but just sayin’. ;))

Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried), or M.K. as she likes to be called, has recently come to live with her dad Bomba (Jason Sudeikis) in a ramshackle house in the middle of nowhere.

Obsessed with proving the existence of a society of tiny guardians of the forest called Leafmen, who are responsible for maintaining balance by keeping the Boggans from spreading blight throughout the forest, M.K.'s dad has little time for a daughter or the realities of everyday life. A chance event lands M.K. right in the middle of the Leafmen's society, where she quickly develops a whole new appreciation for her father's eccentricities. She finds herself charged by the Leafmen's queen (Beyoncé Knowles) with a difficult task that will mean the difference between preservation and destruction for the forest. M.K. joins forces with an assortment of unlikely heroes, including slug and snail duo Mub and Grub (Aziz Ansari and Chris O'Dowd), overzealous Leafmen commander General Ronin (Colin Farrell), and Nod (Josh Hutcherson), a soldier with a bad habit of questioning authority. Their perilous journey introduces M.K. to a strange new breed of enemy and a whole new way of thinking.

Star Rating

4.5 out of 5 stars

Content

Pros:

1. Language--The occasional "heck" or "gosh". Nothing worse.

2. Sexual--Mild romance, nothing worse than most Disney princess movies. Characters kiss. One character's parents divorced. That's about it.

3. Smoking/drinking/drugs/etc.--Some characters bet, but that is seen as bad and unadvised

4. Humor--Hilarious but clean ;P

Cons:

1. Lo and behold... none - not even bathroom humor. Will wonders never cease. XD

Neutral:

1. Violence--Pretty mild. There are battles and things, but nothing super intense or gory. A Boggin splatters on a windshield like a bug. That's about as bad as it gets.

2. Magic/witchcraft--Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler) strikes me as a bit of a wise-mage-with-some-magic-aside-from-party-tricks kind of a guy, but that's never explicitly stated and the only magic we see him doing are the equivalents to our card tricks and pulling rabbits out of hats.

Messages

Pros:

1. We're all united. What one person does affects another, and no one is completely alone (...the whole book of Ephesians... Also Deuteronomy 31:8 as referring to Christians)

2. Everything has a reason and purpose behind it, even if you can't tell what it is (Romans 8:28 - make sure to read that one in context, though)

Cons:

1. None that I noticed

Neutral:

1. The whole point of the leafmen is to protect the forest. You could take this as a environmentalist stance, which wouldn't be surprising from a big movie company like BlueSky. But I honestly didn't see that portrayed in any way. There were no messages about making sure you took care of the woods, just the general plot of "save the forest" as a twist on the more cliche "save the world" plot.

Morals

Pros:

1. Sacrificial love (Tara, Ronin)

2. Courage (everyone - welcome to fantasy stories XD)

3. Responsibility (MK, Ronin)

4. Loyalty (Nod, Ronin)

Cons:

1. None that I noticed

Neutral:

1. Rebellion/disrespect for authority (Nod - this is part of his character arc, though)

Favorite Quotes

"Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist." -??? I don't remember XD

"No one is alone." -Nod (character arccccc)

"You're here for a reason. I know you might not get all the connections yet." -Tara

Techy Stuff

Something about this movie just pops. According to some reviews on Amazon, it's the balanced use of 3D. Not sure if it's that or the animation style in general or something else, but there are some shots that are quite pretty. The world is imaginative and fleshed-out. The characters are very well-developed, despite some cliches (the gruff mentor and brazen love interest for example), and their interactions are gold. Plus, this cast is very good - Steven Tyler, Josh Hutcherson, Beyoncé Knowles.... Recognize any of them? XD The soundtrack is pure amazingness. I mean, just listen to this! *chef's kiss*

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If you're looking for a family friendly, clean movie that entertains both the adults and the kids, this may be worth a shot. Beware the mouse.

Until next time,

Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!!

-Joelle