Let's face it, any animation company that is not Pixar or Disney is struggling right now. Yes, they do manage to pull in the box office figures, partly due to advertising, partly because children love a treat in the cinema, but they fail to have that little bit of magic that Pixar always manage to include.
Parents struggle to find animated films that will go the distance, that is keep their child's attention for the entire film (this can be a difficult task) and then work on another level, where mother and father will be happy enough to sit there and not want to Hulk smash everything. Anyone who sat through Alvin and the Chipmunks, kudos, that was not an easy one.
On top of the above, Pixar also set the bar a good deal higher. No longer could anyone just phone in their ideas and characters, they had to be treated with a bit of love. Toy Story literally changed everything. For the first time, parents were checking out the films before their kids were dragging them there. A first screening of Toy Story 3 at the Edinburgh Film Festival had more adults than children.
However, there were certainly those that put in an extremely good effort, Dreamworks Shrek was one of the funniest films of the year it was released in and Ice Age spawned a very successful series that is still going to this day.
Epic comes as quite a refresher from the studio that brought you the Ice Age series. Almost taking its starting point from Brave, the use of a female protagonist is one that seems carefully thought out. Studios are now attempting to build on the idea of putting a heroine to the fore of their productions and they do not seem to be suffering for it.
Epic revolves around the young MK who returns to her old childhood home to live with her father following the death of her mother. The reasons her mother left are clear, her Dad is obsessed with the notion that there is a miniature advanced society living in the woods which are in control of the entire ecosystem. MK is not entirely convinced and when she predicts her father will be more involved with them than with her, she decides to leave.
On the other hand, events are never that simple and when MK goes into the woods to find her lost dog before she leaves, she stumbles across the injured Queen Tara. The queen's dying wish is for MK to help her people's cause and save the forest and with that she is transported into a world she never knew existed, but one she must help save.
Even though Epic is far from the Pixar studios, there is a lot to like here. The characters are well thought out and the all-star cast certainly lends a lot to the production. Interestingly, although Colin Farrell and Amanda Seyfried are the big Hollywood names here, Beyonce puts in a very good turn as Queen Tara who is at one with nature.
Although there are not as many laugh out loud moments as you would have expected, the tale is one that has a certain resonance; the protection of the wild, the forests and nature. Surely, there is no better message to put across in a kid's film and the fact that it takes second place to the action makes it even more worth its while.
If at all possible, attempt not to see this film in 3D, the beautiful animation should be watched in a 2D screening where it is bright and you can get the full impact of nature at its finest.
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