Despite the killer cast, I
didn’t catch Epic in the cinemas, and I didn’t regret that. The trailer,
mixing FernGully with Honey I Shrunk the Kids while centring the
piece on the oh-so-witty dialogue of the most plain-looking female protagonist
I think I’ve ever seen in animation and a romantic lead that looked like the
offspring of Robert Pattinson and an Easter Island head, did absolutely nothing
for me, so I thought it should be one I leave until I see it on a plane. Which
worked out quite well, because that’s what I did. On our trip to Japan ,
it was one of the (vaguely) new films on offer.
It was what I expected it to
be – a bit clinical and charmless, but entertaining enough all the way through
to be very watchable. Nothing that will have a big impact or take Fox into the
truly big leagues of feature animation, but also not an embarrassment. So in-keeping
with Chris Wedge’s other films.
A young woman who is feeling
an emotional disconnection from her ‘stranger’ of a father because of his utter
obsession with catching fairies becomes shrunk down and involved in an
apparently epic confrontation between the ‘Leafmen’, who guard the queen of the
forest, and the Boggans who wish to see everything rot. The queen has been
gravely injured and is passing her power on through a pod, which young M.K.,
uptight Ronin and wildcard Nod have to protect. If it blooms in the moonlight
of the solstice, the forest is saved, but if it blooms in darkness...
It’s predictable stuff, but
spiced up by some lively performances – Colin Farrell doing his best noble Irish
warrior, Christoph Waltz finally getting to do a full-out hammy bad guy yet
still introducing nuance to the role, and Beyonce and Steven Tyler rocking up
to steal their scenes. Then there’s a comic relief slug and snail duo, who
manage to stay just on the right side of annoying, and also a crazy
three-legged pug, which you can’t really go wrong with.
The trouble really was that perhaps
excepting Colin Farrell, none of the major characters seemed to care very much
what they were doing or believe in their lines. About the only character I
rooted for, despite an initial distaste for the cutesy not-far-from-Alice-in-Wonderland
personified flowers, was the young flower girl enamoured with the Queen,
who despite having an important role in the grand scheme of things barely gets
5 lines – but does them with a real infectious enthusiasm.
It would be more interesting
to see the film actually deal with the ideas of fathers wasting their lives and
failing to be good parents, and with its multiple strands coming together
rather better, but ultimately, it just about satisfied.
