BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

Every now and then there comes along an animated movie that wins over every generation with its imagination and intelligence and Chris Wedge’s Ice Age ranks high on that list. In his latest delivery, Epic, Wedge does well to recreate the same joyous vibe that Ice Age did a decade ago.

Epic is an action adventure that shouldn’t be resigned to a status of an animated film simply because its scale is so ambitious that if made into a live action film it could stand a chance to lose its essence of entertainment, much like the self-obsessed Avatar. State of the art animation, therefore, is the ideal medium for such imagination to take fruition.

Mary, a simple young girl, finds herself in an unlikely role as the chosen one amongst a colony of a miniature race and must fulfill her quest to save the forest. As one of the characters within the film cheekily admits by saying “sometimes we just know”, it certainly applies well for Epic’s plot, and its seeming resemblance to FernGully. Still, that’s not to take anything away from the tremendous entertainment the movie offers.

Epic’s imaginative world is loaded with visuals and details which are nothing short of marvelous. The idea is not just to have unlikely beings mouthing human dialogues for the sake of gimmicks but rather creating their own way of life. As far as characters go we have talking plants, leaf-men warriors, slugs, snails and glowworms besides an army of monstrous creatures. The film doesn’t get distracted from its agenda of being an action adventure with several high adrenaline battle sequences that are superbly constructed. The 3D is seamless and especially in the high speed chase sequences you will be required to fasten your seatbelts.

The film features the voices of Hollywood stars and pop icons like Colin Farrell, Jason Sudeikis, Beyonce and Steven Tyler, who in particular has the opportunity to be his showman self. The supremely articulate Christoph Waltz voices the evil Mandrake and it is a delight to hear the man talk. Even though each character is allowed a bit of a comic streak its Aziz Ansari as the trash-talking slug who trumps everyone with his hilarious lines, and his presence throughout the film adds to the overall enjoyment.

Epic is a film that will leave the kids with dropped-jaws, but more impressively it also manages to draw the adults into the action.