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Movie Review: Epic

rottentomatoes.com

There are animators who could give Pixar a run for its money, and among them are the makers of Epic.

Epic is being somewhat unjustly criticized for being derivative, a criticism that doesn't seem to be applied to thrillers and sci-fi, and other than derivativeness, I don't see anything wrong with Epic.

Our heroine is a special delight-- not a sex bomb like the heroine of The Croods, but a girl just entering her teens, so she is less interested in our teenage hero than he is in her.

His father is a sword-wielding general and hers is an ultimate absent-minded scientist, and the rest of the characters are mostly stock except for a heroic slug and his buddy, a heroic snail.

The heroine is sophisticated enough to know about the five stages of grief, and she is as sharp in action as in dialogue-- which features observations like, "That's not a house, it's just termites holding hands."

The good people live in a kaleidoscope of colored leaves, and flowers, and birds and butterflies, while the villains inhabit a dark blue and gray desolation. But both are beautiful in their appropriate way.

A touch of realism is that death is permanent in Epic, though both living heroine and dead queen can appear in identical spiritual form, perhaps imaginary.

The plot is no more new than fairy-tale plots are, and there is the usual excess of action at the expense of character and mood. But there is satisfaction for every member of the family in Epic.