Director: Chris Wedge.
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Pitbull, Christoph Waltz, Beyoncé Knowles, Judah Friedlander, Aziz Ansari, Chris O’Dowd, Steven Tyler.
Running Time: 102 minutes.
Certificate: PG.
Synopsis: Transported to a forest where good and evil are caught in a constant battle, Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried) joins forces with an odd group of characters to save both their world and ours.
From the outset, EPIC’s virtuosity for computer-generated animation seamlessly transports us to a virtual world of natural beauty where the good and life forces prevail. Adapted from William Joyce’s book ‘The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs’, Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios deliver an exquisite celebration of Mother Nature that charmingly unfurls like fern leaves unravelling in sunlight. Thematically rooted in educating the audience about ecology and life’s transience, the film is a brilliant sensory confection that never loses sight of plot or characterisation.
EPIC recounts the ethereal tale of grieving teenager Mary Katherine (‘MK’) who, having lost her mother, manages to heal a damaged relationship with her hapless and academic father. On the cusp of womanhood, she gains a father and with it her own vim and identity by disproving his critics in her ability to prove the existence of the raging battle of the life forces. MK ventures into woodland to search for her errant trusty three-legged dog only to find herself like ALICE IN WONDERLAND and shrunk to the size of the tiny leaf men with whom she joins forces to save the natural world and to nurture the internal powers to reconcile her loss.
Perhaps employed as a metaphor for a body ravaged by disease and decay, Mother Nature (Queen Tara, voiced by Beyoncé Knowles) finds herself at the mercy of the evil Boggans and their poisonous master of atrophy, Mandrake (Christoph Waltz). The Queen requests that the courageous MK carries the pod of life to the knowledgeable Nim Galuu – Steven Tyler brilliantly cast as a clear nod to a certain Hookah-smoking Caterpillar – so to ensure that life may spring eternal in the forest. Aided by Ronin (Colin Farrell), the fearless leaf men leader with a delicious Gaelic lilt, and leafy love interest Nod (Josh Hutcherson), MK and her band of extraordinary companions embark on a magical adventure of survival, fortitude and personal growth.
EPIC provides a sensitive treatment of the life cycle and beautifully illustrates the ephemeral passing of nature. It is a poignant and whimsical story which reflects the epic struggle of life and reveals the beauty of the fight. Sublime viewing for all the family.
EPIC is released in UK cinemas on May 22nd and US cinemas on May 24th.
