—Courtesy Photo

Alice in Wonderland, in a big ‘Epic’ world of small people.

Epic: as it so happens with films that have a lot riding on them – eg. 3D, crisp CG animation, PG-certification – the title takes itself way too seriously. And it’s a good thing it did. Epic swooshes, glides and nose-dives as deftly as the film’s main mode of transportation, the hummingbirds. However, the speed also has a side-effect: it eludes any elements of profoundness and the simplicity of a major Oscar contender. Considering the number of animated titles released each year, the Oscar talk isn’t that far off-topic. But missing the cut by a few inches isn’t that bad of a deal now, is it?!

By definition though, Epic is a literal translation. It’s big, it’s beautiful to look at, it’s fast (sometimes, a tad too fast) and there’s a lot of green. Think: “Alice” visits “Avatar”, stops by “Ferngully” somewhere along the “Yellow Brick Road”; then again, the references aren’t as blatant as one might assume them to be. They’re not criminal, but they’re still hiding in plain sight.

Mary Katherine (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) – self-dubbed as M.K – moves in with her estranged and kooky scientist father Prof. Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), who believes in the “other” little green men. The zillions of tiny creatures that live within the forest and fend off their evil counterparts — Boggans. Their leader, Mandrake (Christoph Waltz), has an agenda in-line with anyone majoring in villainy, or city-expanding real-estate: the destruction of the forest.

—Courtesy Photo

The fauna survives because of the Queen of the Forest (Beyonce Knowles), whose hundred year rule is about to end with a new successor – a small bud that will blossom at midnight. Mandrake wants the same bud for another nefarious reason.

Soon though M.K., in a drastic magical whiplash, finds herself shrunk leaf-size and tasked with the safety of the bud, which she has to bring to Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler), a blubbering yellow caterpillar who’s a one-half showbiz act and one-half absent-minded keeper of the scrolls that foretell history.

M.K. also finds brief romance, that gets muddled somewhere within the ‘epic-ness’ of Epic. He is Nod (Josh Hutcherson), the rebellious protégé-cum-semi hero, cum ward of Ronin (Collin Farrell, speaking in what I guess is a slight Irish pitch). While Nod is supposed to be the “know-no-boundaries, live-no-rules” type hero, his hero’s slot is often taken over by Ronin, who also shares a brief – and more effective – romance with the Queen of the Forest. Their moments are tender, and its resonance is functionally maintained by Chris Wedge, Epic’s director whose previous works include Ice Age and Robots.

—Courtesy Photo

A little more insight, a little more humility, would have made my day more pleasurable; but that’s the way we human’s think. We always want that little bit more, without being content with what we already have. That’s a little more philosophy than what Epic offers (the best bet it motions is “many leaves, one tree”), but you get my drift.

Released by 20th Century Fox and Geo Films, “Epic” stars the voices of: Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Beyoncé Knowles, Aziz Ansari, Chris O’Dowd, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis and Steven Tyler.

Produced by Lori Forte and Jerry Davis; Directed by Chris Wedge; Written by James V. Hart, William Joyce, Dan Shere, Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, based on a story by Mr. Wedge, Mr. Hart and Mr. Joyce, and inspired by Mr. Joyce’s book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs”; Music by Danny Elfman.

Epic is rated PG: there’s a lot of fighting without the savagery, and spectacular character animation. The film releases today.