Epic The Movie Review

Yes, I don't normally do reviews, but I saw the movie on the release date and have some things to say about it. Pipe down and listen. Of course, because it is a review, there are many spoilers. So if you don't want plot spoilers, go buy tickets and see it.

Epic is about a young girl (probably named Mary) who moves into her father's house for a little bit. Mary sees the moment she gets in that her father is a bit "eccentric", and has an obsession with these little men he thinks exist and battle rot for the survival of the forest. Of course, Mary thinks this is dilly-dandy, and tries to move out despite promising to her mother to TRY to stay with her father. However, her three-legged dog, named Ozzie, distracts her and makes her drop her suitcase when she tries to hail a taxi, and the result plays a big role in the rest of the movie.
Now, before we move on, my mom said the beginning wasn't too interesting, which I find would be devastating to movie sales, just as a book's beginning is critical. They could've easily fixed this with a few jokes and a bit more backstory before dropping us into this new setting. Let's move on.
She gets lost in the woods during a storm, but little does she know that today is the summer solstice, the only day in a hundred years the queen of the forest chooses a heir. The rot creatures, however, try to kill the queen before she makes a heir from the lotus blossoms, which almost succeeds. In the process, a little flower-girl helps the queen escape the Leaf-Men's lands, where she could find a place to hide. However, before that could happen, the queen is shot down holding her heir from the back of a hummingbird. The Leaf Men's leader (named Ronin) tries to save her, but Mary stumbles upon the dying queen first.
The queen gives Mary her last words, then gives the bud to her. Mary, of course, shrinks, and becomes Leaf-Man sized. Ronin and his troops arrive, but it is too late. The arrow that kills the queen dissolves her into moss. The Leaf-Men grieve, then take Mary to the Leaf-Man base and discuss what to do. Then, Ronin's friend's son, Nod, comes along as a Leaf-Man who abandoned his job and became a racer, and takes a fancy to Mary. Of course, a slug and a snail, both of which are male, come along too, as they are the creatures who keep the bud moist before it blooms.
The slug, however, also takes a fancy to Mary, and thinks Nod can't compete, when Nod clearly has an advantage being NOT SLIMY. Duh, slug!
So, I think the humor and concept is fresh, but I heard someone note that it sounds awfully like the Spiderwick Chronicles. It is NOT a sequel, but maybe the idea could have been more distinguishable, I guess?
They take off on Nod's sparrow with Ronin to find out what to do with the pod Mary received, and head towards the old caterpillar's home (I forgot his name) where they find out what to do from the ancient scrolls inside his tree's rings. Mary finds out that by that night, they need to hold the bud up to the full moon at it's peak. However, they do not know that otherwise, it will become a dark prince that will assist the rot king's plans to make the forest his with his powers of rot. They need the queen to be reborn so that she can undo the damage the Rotters did, or the forest will be lost.
During the caterpillar's show (he owns a show), though, a mole attacks and takes the bud when Nod and Mary were riding a deer, and the slug and snail are taken with the bud. Everyone panics, and Ronin scolds Nod for not guarding the pod. After that, they fly to the rotters' base to take the bud back and make the new queen. Conflict ensues, and Ronin is nearly lost to the enemy. There is a fierce battle trying to get the bats away from the moon when they finally get the bud back, and Mary has to get to her dad (called a Stomper by the Leaf-Men) even after he thinks he is hallucinating when he sees her only two inches tall to help them. A dark prince nearly is born, but at the last second Mary's father comes through and plays his bat cry recordings, promptly making the bats get off the moon and make the new queen be born. The queen, somehow un-surprisingly, possesses the flower-girl from earlier (she wants to be queen and thinks the job is awesome) to make her queen. Mary is disappointed that she wasn't with the bud when it bloomed so that she cannot become normal again, but deep down she is glad she can be with Nod, because they are madly in love. However, Mary suddenly has to leave because her duty has been done, and there are a few touching moments where the slug says "Follow the trail of slime!" and she and Nod kiss.
The end is where Mary uses some of her father's equipment (cameras and leaf-men talkers) to talk to Nod sometimes, and she overall learns that no matter how eccentric her father is, she should love him. The end.
I overall think this is a great movie, but some moments were so yucky they made me cringe. I think that they should've made the scene where Nod fights a mouse for Mary a bit better, because they make Mary seem helpless AND the size of the mouse was quite jarring. Also, I wish there was more backstory to some of the characters, as even at the end some parts are left unexplained, such as how Nod's dad died, what is going on between the queen and Ronin, how Mary's parents got divorced, and so on. The movie isn't as epic as it should be, but it is still worth your while.
Rating:
8.0 out of 10.0