Introduction
As this is my second movie review, I wanted to do review something different from the first one. I will most likely review a movie which has science fiction or fantasy as its genre, because that is something I am comfortable with reviewing. After some thought, I decided to review an animated movie called Epic. This movie caught my attention when I saw the trailer, which was interesting and, well, epic. Is the movie really epic as the title says? I guess you'll find out. I would also like to point out I did not read the book version, so my knowledge around this movie is limited as well. As in every review, I would rate a movie through five categories; Plot, Graphic, Music, Pace, and Replay Value. And spoiler alert, of course.
Plot (4/10)
In order for a movie to be epic, one must have a good, solid and engaging plot. Not in this movie, or simply not good enough. In fact, it's so predictable and cheesy you would probably guess it's a Disney princess movie. Although I understand this is a romance/science fiction/action genre, it's still not engaging either for the romance, action and science fiction fans. They certainly show a bit of this and that, but not ambitious or creative enough to make any of them shine.
I find the plot generic and non-sensical at times. I shall name a few of those instances. The Queen of the leafmen decided to hand over her pod, which she had transferred all her power into, to the daughter of a man who has been hunting them for years, because the girl just happens to be near her when she is dying, and shrinks her to a tiny size in the process of doing so. Later on, you learned that the Queen is essentially blackmailing the girl to make sure the pod is safe so that her faction wins, in order to revert her back to her original size. Considering the fact that Queen Tara is supposed to represent the leader of the good forces, that's not a very nice thing to do.
Commander Ronin has the worst recon team in the history of the leafmen ever, sends his scouts to recon, not one of them sees a whole legion of Boggans just waiting to ambush the Queen. Ronin, Mary and Nod wanted to disguise themselves to infiltrate Boggan territory, and they went through the totally unnecessary task of retrieving Boggan armor from Mary's father's house when they can pick them up near the scene where Queen Tara died, because I am pretty sure more than three Boggans died over there.
Ronin decided to distract the Boggans while letting Mary and Nod rescue the snails and the pod. The oldest trick in the book, and the leader of the Boggans didn't see it coming. Mary and co. manages to escape, leaving behind Ronin to fend for himself. I'm not sure if Commander Ronin is a genius for knowing Boggan leader Mandrake would fall for it, or Mandrake is just incredibly dumb. The only reason the leafmen won is because Bomba just happens to have bat sounds on his iPod (Apple saves leafmen lives, buy one for $199 today! Additional charges may apply) to chase away the bats from blocking the moonlight. How convenient. While we're at it, why not let Bomba bring a flamethrower and burn each and every one of the damn Boggans? That would certainly give the leafmen a clear victory, wouldn't it? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Ronin not only managed to survive at the Boggan territory, but also finds a way back just in time to face Mandrake protecting the pod back at the leafmen stronghold with no wounds, only a few bruises. That's Commander Mother-f***king Ronin for you, ladies and gentlemen, Chuck Norris style.
The romance part looks fake and is not related to the plot at all. The only reason why they would add that in is to appease the teenage girls, or to simply prolong the movie. Another critical point is that this movie basically resolves around two factions battling each other in a long and bloody war, but no bloodshed has ever occurred throughout the whole movie, because it is rated PG -13. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just feel the movie is sugar-coating an entire war, which isn't realistic and entertaining to watch.
Now for some theory-crafting. Since the humans, leafmen, and the Boggans have the same anatomical shape, it is possible to interbreed with one another. The theory is further strengthened by the fact that Mary and Nod are attracted to each other in a sexual way. This leads to interesting outcomes as to what the offspring might become, or if it's possible at all. Let's put that aside, and say that this is real, and we see the human perspective on the knowledge that these two factions exist. The only reason the humans do not know they exist, is because they move and act at a higher speed than the humans. This problem would be easily rectified, if the government knew about it. The humans already have cameras that can capture high speed movement, all they have to do is locate the central place where these two factions operate, and mass-chloroform the whole area. They won't see it coming, since they have always thought that humans are clumsy creatures. Studies on their behaviour, their culture, and their anatomical structure would be done. Experiments will take place. Why wouldn't they? You see, the leafmen are portraying the humans are the saviours and heroes against the so-called evil forces. Boy, are the leafmen wrong about that.
Graphics (7/10)
The designs of the leafmen and the Boggans were distinctly different enough so that the audience were able to differentiate them from one another. Since the whole movie is computer generated, I would say they did a good job on the environment, or the setting of the movie, but I would like to see more of the places. The slow motion scene of the deer, the highly detailed pod scene, the dreadful Boggan territory, the cheery leafmen castle. Those were cool graphics that were notable.
Pace (5/10)
Well, despite the plot being awfully predictable which makes me feel like I want to fast-forward the whole movie, the detailed and colourful visuals made want to slow it down and see more of it. And then the scene passes and I want to fast-forward it again. It's not the actual pace of the movie that makes it seemingly slow, it's the plot, so I won't fault on it too much.
Music (5/10)
There's not much music in the movie, not any that took my attention anyway, but I feel like they could use more of this element in the movie to further enhance the experience and set a stronger emotion for the appropriate scenes.
Replay Value (2/10)
The only thing that kept me on my seat was the action scenes and the visuals, and a chance there might be a plot twist in the end, regardless how small that chance is, a prove that the movie isn't that bad after all. It never came. If you ask me, I would rather watch a 102 minutes documentary about the life of an allegheny mound ant, at least I wouldn't know what would happen next.
Verdict (4/10)
This movie has tons of potential, I really do think so. The fact that the two factions are fighting each other and I don't give a damn who wins speaks in itself. In the end, its one of those movies you feel disappointed in after watching the trailer of the movie. It's not as epic as the movie title suggest after all. If you are indecisive on whether to watch this movie or not, it's best to just watch that documentary I mentioned above. This will be the end of the review, folks. Hope you had a good time reading it. This is Salmon, signing off.
Author :
SALMON
I find the plot generic and non-sensical at times. I shall name a few of those instances. The Queen of the leafmen decided to hand over her pod, which she had transferred all her power into, to the daughter of a man who has been hunting them for years, because the girl just happens to be near her when she is dying, and shrinks her to a tiny size in the process of doing so. Later on, you learned that the Queen is essentially blackmailing the girl to make sure the pod is safe so that her faction wins, in order to revert her back to her original size. Considering the fact that Queen Tara is supposed to represent the leader of the good forces, that's not a very nice thing to do.
Commander Ronin has the worst recon team in the history of the leafmen ever, sends his scouts to recon, not one of them sees a whole legion of Boggans just waiting to ambush the Queen. Ronin, Mary and Nod wanted to disguise themselves to infiltrate Boggan territory, and they went through the totally unnecessary task of retrieving Boggan armor from Mary's father's house when they can pick them up near the scene where Queen Tara died, because I am pretty sure more than three Boggans died over there.
Ronin decided to distract the Boggans while letting Mary and Nod rescue the snails and the pod. The oldest trick in the book, and the leader of the Boggans didn't see it coming. Mary and co. manages to escape, leaving behind Ronin to fend for himself. I'm not sure if Commander Ronin is a genius for knowing Boggan leader Mandrake would fall for it, or Mandrake is just incredibly dumb. The only reason the leafmen won is because Bomba just happens to have bat sounds on his iPod (Apple saves leafmen lives, buy one for $199 today! Additional charges may apply) to chase away the bats from blocking the moonlight. How convenient. While we're at it, why not let Bomba bring a flamethrower and burn each and every one of the damn Boggans? That would certainly give the leafmen a clear victory, wouldn't it? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Ronin not only managed to survive at the Boggan territory, but also finds a way back just in time to face Mandrake protecting the pod back at the leafmen stronghold with no wounds, only a few bruises. That's Commander Mother-f***king Ronin for you, ladies and gentlemen, Chuck Norris style.
The romance part looks fake and is not related to the plot at all. The only reason why they would add that in is to appease the teenage girls, or to simply prolong the movie. Another critical point is that this movie basically resolves around two factions battling each other in a long and bloody war, but no bloodshed has ever occurred throughout the whole movie, because it is rated PG -13. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just feel the movie is sugar-coating an entire war, which isn't realistic and entertaining to watch.
Now for some theory-crafting. Since the humans, leafmen, and the Boggans have the same anatomical shape, it is possible to interbreed with one another. The theory is further strengthened by the fact that Mary and Nod are attracted to each other in a sexual way. This leads to interesting outcomes as to what the offspring might become, or if it's possible at all. Let's put that aside, and say that this is real, and we see the human perspective on the knowledge that these two factions exist. The only reason the humans do not know they exist, is because they move and act at a higher speed than the humans. This problem would be easily rectified, if the government knew about it. The humans already have cameras that can capture high speed movement, all they have to do is locate the central place where these two factions operate, and mass-chloroform the whole area. They won't see it coming, since they have always thought that humans are clumsy creatures. Studies on their behaviour, their culture, and their anatomical structure would be done. Experiments will take place. Why wouldn't they? You see, the leafmen are portraying the humans are the saviours and heroes against the so-called evil forces. Boy, are the leafmen wrong about that.
Graphics (7/10)
The designs of the leafmen and the Boggans were distinctly different enough so that the audience were able to differentiate them from one another. Since the whole movie is computer generated, I would say they did a good job on the environment, or the setting of the movie, but I would like to see more of the places. The slow motion scene of the deer, the highly detailed pod scene, the dreadful Boggan territory, the cheery leafmen castle. Those were cool graphics that were notable.
Pace (5/10)
Well, despite the plot being awfully predictable which makes me feel like I want to fast-forward the whole movie, the detailed and colourful visuals made want to slow it down and see more of it. And then the scene passes and I want to fast-forward it again. It's not the actual pace of the movie that makes it seemingly slow, it's the plot, so I won't fault on it too much.
Music (5/10)
There's not much music in the movie, not any that took my attention anyway, but I feel like they could use more of this element in the movie to further enhance the experience and set a stronger emotion for the appropriate scenes.
Replay Value (2/10)
The only thing that kept me on my seat was the action scenes and the visuals, and a chance there might be a plot twist in the end, regardless how small that chance is, a prove that the movie isn't that bad after all. It never came. If you ask me, I would rather watch a 102 minutes documentary about the life of an allegheny mound ant, at least I wouldn't know what would happen next.
Verdict (4/10)
This movie has tons of potential, I really do think so. The fact that the two factions are fighting each other and I don't give a damn who wins speaks in itself. In the end, its one of those movies you feel disappointed in after watching the trailer of the movie. It's not as epic as the movie title suggest after all. If you are indecisive on whether to watch this movie or not, it's best to just watch that documentary I mentioned above. This will be the end of the review, folks. Hope you had a good time reading it. This is Salmon, signing off.
Author :
SALMON
