Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Opening Weekend Box Office: #4 with $33,531,068
Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $83,930,559
Gross Revenue: $189,330,559
Production Budget: $100 million
Director: Chris
Wedge
Epic
may have been the easy underdog heading into the animation-heavy 2013 Summer
Movie Season, but Blue Sky Studios’ newest property was the only entry which
seemed to actively leverage the marketability of its all-star voice cast. Come to think of it, Ice Age: Continental Drift used a similar tactic last summer, and
as both films are part of the 20th Century Fox library, it seems
that at least one of the Big Six shares my valuation of leveraging star power
in relation to the animated realm. With
big names like Amanda Seyfried and Christoph Waltz, there were some
considerable expectations for character depth, and with Beyoncé Knowles, Steven
Tyler, and Pitbull lending their vocal talents, it wasn’t unreasonable to
expect some highly enjoyable music accompanying the fantasy fare. In fact, everything from the character
designs to the print posters and McDonald’s Happy Meals seemed to indicate that
Epic was going to harken back to
classic children’s films of the animated Renaissance that defined the late 80’s
and early 90’s. To be honest, marketing
efforts and project potential had done plenty to drive moviegoer attendance for
Epic in spite of massive competition,
but my ticket was bought the second the “fruit-fly lifespan” joke was featured
in trailers, so I certainly wasn’t going to be hard to please.
Revealing a world that has been hidden for
centuries, Epic focuses on tiny
protectors of the forest known as Leafmen, who are at constant war with a
malevolent race known as Boggans and their tyrannical leader, Mandrake
(Christoph Waltz). The leader of the
Leafmen, Ronin (Colin Farrell), is particularly on edge due to an upcoming
ceremony where the queen of the forest, Tara (Beyoncé Knowles), will select a
new heir to her throne; and though Queen Tara eventually chooses a tiny leaf
pod to carry on her legacy, Mandrake attacks and mortally wounds the
monarch. Desperate to protect the pod,
Tara uses the last bit of her magic to shrink a nearby teenager, Mark
Katherine/M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) and task her with delivering the pod to the
ancient prophet glowworm Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler), who can help the pod bloom;
should she fail, Mandrake will take over and decimate the forest, turning it
into nothing more than a rotting wasteland.
With the help of a young Leafman soldier, Nod (Josh Hutcherson), and pod
caretakers Mub (Aziz Ansari) and Grub (Chris O’Dowd), Ronin agrees to escort
M.K. and protect the pod, which will return the young girl to her normal state
once it blooms. Overwhelmed by this new
reality and eager to return to her eccentric father, Professor Bomba (Jason
Sudeikis), M.K. discovers an inner bravery and a newfound responsibility to
embark and succeed on this important adventure.
Easily drumming up memories of childhood animation
while showcasing beautifully-rendered environments and genuinely entertaining
voice acting, Epic is a simple and
charming box office treat that will appeal to audiences of all ages. Based on the above plot synopsis, it is not
that difficult to see why older viewers would draw associations between Blue
Sky’s newest production and the classic Don Bluth children’s movies that
dominated the film landscape over twenty years ago, and it is that kind of
nostalgia that will keep parents invested while children marvel at the visuals
and exciting action sequences. And in
terms of the voice acting, while Christoph Waltz and Beyoncé are particularly
well-matched in their respective roles as threatening villain and benevolent
deity, the true scene stealers are Chris O’ Dowd and Aziz Ansari. As the bickering yet charming snail and slug
combo, O’Dowd and Ansari are absolutely hysterical, easily setting up the best
jokes of the narrative and cementing their status as fan favorites…if Fox
chooses not to revisit the Leafmen, I at least hope that these two get a
spin-off franchise. In the end though,
for as enjoyable as I found Epic, the
fact remains that a few small missteps prevent this family feature from
becoming the kind of game changer that audiences have come to expect in the
current competitive landscape.
Given the ambitious and imaginative nature of its
source material and general framing, it was a little disappointing to see Epic plagued by some menial missteps,
and while none of these shortcomings were overtly weakening, they did serve to
highlight the limited appeal and simplistic nature of the film. Granted, these are relatively small gripes,
but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Pitbull’s participation in the
film amounts to a worthless cameo, Jason Sudeikis’ character is infuriatingly
annoying, and not having a musical number featuring Beyoncé represented a
massive missed opportunity. The reason
that these miscues feature so prominently is because the main appeal of this
movie lies in its voice talent…the story is compelling enough, but its
straightforward and largely formulaic nature just isn’t memorable enough to
hold out against competitors from DreamWorks or Pixar. Thankfully, the eco-friendly message isn’t as
in-your-face as a comparatively-themed entry like The Lorax, but I doubt that mass audiences can respond to such a
specialized and narrowly-focused tale that, while novel, simply feels too old
fashioned. So, that being said, while Epic will still thrill young viewers and
can represent a wonderful trip down memory lane for some, there simply isn’t
enough to keep the film top-of-mind after you leave the theater.
Despite the inherent appeal of a kid-friendly
animated feature, there was no way in hell that Epic was going to compete financially with franchise sequels Fast Six and Hangover 3 over the extended Memorial Day Holiday Weekend. Against that type of competition, things
could have gone a lot worse than a $33 million, 4th place opening,
and while those numbers are definitely not the type that you want to see for a
big-budget project, such an underperformance is connected to poor timing as
opposed to poor quality. It would
certainly be a shame for something as enjoyable as Epic to spell the doom for Blue Sky Studios, but luckily, a beefy
international presence has already pushed receipts well beyond the $100 million
production costs. Looking ahead to the
future, while there may not be much demand to revisit M.K. and Nod, I wouldn’t
be opposed to a Mub and Grub comedy special…between these two and DWA’s
upcoming Turbo, the 2013 season could
be dubbed “Summer of Snails.” Putting it
all together, Epic may not qualify as
a “must see,” but it can still represent a worthy investment at the theater.
Overall
Recommendation: High
