I didn't think hugely of the trailer, but considering that I love animation, I like Blue Sky's previous work and that the voice cast comprises of some really talented people I was going to see it anyway. Epic is not a bad film and I am glad I watched it and gave it a chance, but considering the talent involved it could have been more. The best asset is definitely the animation, which is just wonderful. The colours are so beautiful to watch, characters and objects are well-modelled and defined and the backgrounds are really detailed and life-like. Danny Elfman's score is not one of his best(his Edward Scissorhands score is my favourite) but it captures the fantasy-adventure element of the story to excellent effect, while the songs are catchy without interfering with the mood too much. The action sequences are excitingly choreographed and animation-wise you can tell that a lot of effort went into them.

The script was a mixed bag for me, in parts it was engaging and smartly written especially with the comic relief, in others like with the lead characters it was a little too simplistic and under-baked. Apparently there were about 5 or 6 different writers, and it does show sometimes. The story is also a mix, it starts off slow but it picks up with the action sequences, a good balance of comedic and scary moments and the message and philosophical aspects, which in turns were fascinating, didn't preach too much and made their point. It does get rather generic though with some plot points that has been explored a fair bit before in films and stronger done, and also feels too simple, never really rising above the ordinary. The characters are not bad, I did like Mary Katherine and the comic relief were great, but most of them did come across as underwritten basic archetypes. I do think much more could have been done with Mandrake. He's very well animated and voiced and I did feel sorry for them, but he never does come that much of a threat- which I think weakens the good vs. evil aspect of the story and other than feeling sorry for them he didn't come across as very well developed.

On the most part the voice acting is good, not all of it entirely worked though. Josh Hutcherson is rather bland in the main hero role, not entirely his fault as his character is too and his dialogue isn't much to write home about, a shame because this is the same Josh Hutcherson who was so good in Bridge in Terabithia. Beyoncé does caring and sympathetic quite well and does put a lot of heart into the character, but at the same time I don't think she really embodied the character of the Queen Tara, it came across as not enough Tara and too much Beyoncé trying to be her. Steven Tyler came across to me as a very strange casting choice and I still think that he was out of place here.

I really liked everybody else though. Amanda Seyfried is a very spirited heroine, while Chris O'Dowd is hilarious as one of the snail. Aniz Ansari is also inspired. Colin Farrell does sincere and soft-spoken very well, and while it does come across as overdone sometimes Jason Sudeikis is very zany and amiable in a role that requires those qualities. Christoph Waltz does a great job acting suave, droll and menacing, giving his all into a character that doesn't ever quite match, though maybe this is in comparison to his previous characters and films where his parts were much richer in how they were written(to be honest though I was not expecting anything like his previous characters seeing as Epic is a completely different kettle of fish to them).

Overall, not as good as it could have been but a decent enough effort. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried) moves in with her eccentric father scientist who has been obsessed with an advanced forest tiny people living just out of the perception of human beings. Queen Tara leads the tiny people who represent renewal and growth. Mandrake leads the Boggans who represent decay. Queen Tara is choosing a pod to renew the forest and a new heir to her throne when she is attacked by the Boggans. Mary Katherine is shrunk down to miniature size and chosen to guard the pod. She is protected by the heroic Leafman guard Ronin (Colin Farrell) and rebellious Nod (Josh Hutcherson).

The movie doesn't really live up to its name. It is a whole lot of recycled kiddie movies. It has good intentions, but it doesn't have the magic. The lead girl isn't particularly compelling. She comes off a little bland especially for an animated movie. She's not big enough. The tiny world is nicely done but yet again not that magical. Time and time again, this movie strides for epic but never really achieves it. None of the comic relief is funny enough. The entire movie is one passable watch but not much more.

The teenager Mary "MK" Katherine returns to the house of her estranged father Professor Bomba, who is a widower scientist obsessed to find tiny creatures that he believes that would live in the forest. MK does not accept the lack of attention of her father with her and decides to leave him again. However the creatures do exist and protect the forest against the evil Boggans and their leader Mandrake that wish to destroy the forest.

Near the solstice, Queen Tara chooses a pod to inherit her healing powers, protected by the Leaf-Men and their leader Ronin. However, they are surprised by an attack of Mandrake and the Boggans and Queen Tara is deadly wounded by Mandrake.

Meanwhile, MK is leaving home and she looks for her three-leg dog Ozzy that has ran to the forest. She finds Queen Tara dying and she shrinks MK with her powers and gives the pod to her. Further Queen Tara asks MK to take the pod to Nim Galuu. When Ronin meets them, he decides to bring MK and the pod to Nim Galuu, with the protection of the young Leaf-Man Nod and the slugs Mub and Grub. Along the dangerous journey, they are chased by Mandrake that wants to bloom the pod in darkness to destroy the forest.

"Epic" is a delightful animation with a story of a fight between the good, represented by tiny creatures that protect the forest and environment, against the evil Boggans that want to destroy the forest. The plot has a beautiful message and is a wonderful family entertainment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Reino Escondido" ("Hidden Kingdom")