Epic (2013)

You may have noticed that I have kind of a blind spot when it comes to kids films.  Not having any kids, the appeal or desire to see some of these films just isn't there sometimes.  Epic is an example of why I tend to avoid them.  It's not that Epic is a bad film, but it's definitely a film geared towards a younger audience, and as far as the story, isn't anything you haven't seen before.

M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) moves in with her father, after the recent death of her mother.  Her father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), is an eccentric scientist obsessed with finding evidence of tiny humans living in the forest.  They do a pretty good job of making M.K. unlikable, giving her no tolerance or compassion towards her father.  She just thinks he's weird and wants him to give it up.  She's so frustrated that after like a day, she bails on him.  I don't know where she was planning on going, being only 17, and walking out on her remaining parent.  Leave it to angsty teens to have a thought out plan, right?

Anyway, as M.K. is leaving, she chases their half-blind, three-legged dog (I'm not making that up) into the woods.  She finds the queen of the forest, Tara (Beyoncé Knowles), dying.  Tara gives her a pod that was part of a ritual to name her heir, and shrinks her down to their size.  Her dying request is that M.K. take this pod to someone to complete the ritual.  She joins up with Ronin (Colin Farrell), a commanding soldier; a snail and slug, Grub (Chris O'Dowd) and Mub (Aziz Ansari); and a rebellious soldier named Nod (Josh Hutcherson) to complete this task.  Their primary threat are the Boggans, a race of creatures that seek to destroy the forest.  They are led by the evil Mandrake (Christoph Waltz).

It's a standard adventure story from there.  People overcome their differences, characters grow up and learn lessons, etc.  It's all pretty predictable and familiar.  It's almost ironic to call this Epic, as it didn't feel too epic to me.  If anything I'd expect some indie film to use the title ironically.  Epic was based off the William Joyce book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, but it was director Chris Wedge's goal to adapt the story to make it more of an action-adventure.  It looks like something got a little lost in the adaptation as the whole story felt thin to me.  There's not a lot of depth to the story or characters.  I'm sure having five (five?!) screenwriters didn't help either.

Again, I'm not saying Epic is a bad movie, or even has a that bad of a story.  I just never got invested in what was going on or found myself caring about any of the characters.  I spent more time keeping all the character's names straight in my head, and when I wasn't doing that, I was trying to figure out who the voices of all the main characters were.  For the record, I only guessed four right: Beyoncé, Aziz Ansari, Colin Farrell, and Christoph Waltz.

Most of the attempts at humor fell flat.  It seemed to be working for the kids though, and that's really all Epic can aim for, an average kids film.  I see this being something you can put on the TV, and it'll entertain your kids for 100 minutes, but I don't see them falling in love with it and watching it over and over.  It's just not that memorable.

I did enjoy the CG though.  The design of the world was very interesting and there were a lot of nice details with the characters and settings.  The animation was very fluid, with the exception of how they animated Professor Bomba.  He had a very jerky and unnatural way of moment that was too cartoonish and seemed too much of a contrast from everyone else.

Epic isn't a complete waste of time, but it's yet another middle of the road animated film that borrows heavily from many other films and themes.  Unlike some stronger animated films, it's gonna struggle to hold the attention of anyone over the age of 10.  It's a solid kid's film though and one you can feel confident with letting them watch unattended.  Epic is a rental.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Rise of the Guardians (2012) - Movie Review

I never knew Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were such bad asses.

We meet Jack Frost (voice by Chris Pine) as he tells us how he got his name and power.  He's been alive for hundreds of years, but feels a little empty because nobody can see him or believes he exists.  The only joy he seems to get out of life is using his powers to mess with everyone (he actually comes off as kind of a jerk at first) or create a snow day for the kids in town.

At the North Pole, Santa Claus finds that Pitch Black, a.k.a. The Boogeyman, has returned.  Pitch's plan is to bring back fear to the children of the world.  Santa rallies the other Guardians of legend, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) to stop Pitch.  However, the Man in the Moon tells the Guardians that he's picked Jack Frost to be their newest member.

One of the things I liked about Guardians is that it didn't follow into the familiar troupe of the reluctant hero. Sure, Jack's a little resistant about joining the Guardians at first, but joins the action almost immediately once he realizes how serious the threat is.  They don't have to twist his arm to join their cause, and that was a refreshing change.  His primary dilemma throughout the story is finding out what his purpose is and what it will take for people to believe in him.

I've heard more than a few people compare this to Avengers, and I didn't draw that comparison until I heard that.  It's totally true though.  You're watching a movie about a bunch of super-powered mythical figures throw down against a common threat.  On that level, I thought the action parts of the film were very entertaining.  When there's action in the movie, it doesn't feel too cartoon-ish.

The overall story felt a little thin to me though.  There isn't a ton of depth, and the story is pretty fundamental.  It's not a bad story at all, but it's message and humor is definitely geared towards kids.  There are a few clever things they do, and there are some twists to the familiar mythology that I really appreciated.  However, it was lacking that something extra to put this in that upper tier of animated stories.

The animation is fantastic though.  The character design was great, and each even had their own realm that had it's own life and uniqueness about it.  One of the cooler characters was the Sandman.  He has no spoken dialog in the film and communicates through 'thought bubbles' and facial expressions.  It was really interesting and effective. I did see this in 3D, and while it didn't detract from the film, I didn't think it added too much to it either.  Overall, it's colorful and gorgeous. Even if the story doesn't totally work for you, the animation and visuals will keep you interested.

Matching the animation was the great voice work.  I mention this a lot when reviewing animated films, while the voices might be familiar, they aren't distracting or take you out of the story.  You have familiar voices like Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Chris Pine, and all their voices fit their characters nicely.  I was really impressed with Jude Law's voice acting for Pitch Black.  His voice fit the character perfectly, and he wasn't over-the-top with his delivery. Equally impressive was Alec Baldwin as Santa.  He plays Santa with a Russian accent, so I had no clue it was even him until the credits rolled.

This was Peter Ramsey's feature directorial debut, and I thought it was a great first effort.  From his IMDB page, his background as a illustrator and artist really lent itself to the visuals and action here.  Guillermo del Toro was an executive producer on this, and you can see his influence on the visuals as well.  This was based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series.  As it's a book series, I've already heard there are potentially going to be some sequels and I have to say that I'm really looking forward to what they do next.  There are a lot of different areas and characters they can bring into the series and I think that'll be a lot of fun to see.  I only wish David Lindsay-Abaire's script had just a little more edge and wit to it.  That was the only real weakness of the film for me, and the thing that prevented it from being great.

Rise of the Guardians is a great family-friendly, holiday movie.  The story and message are great for the kids, and the top-notch animation will provide entertainment for those not that into the story. This is another movie that I think your kids will want to watch over and over once it comes out on DVD and I think it will help keep their belief alive in things like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. Totally worth a matinee.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars