Film Review | Epic

First of all, please allow me to apologise for not reviewing what is doubtlessly the most topical film of the week (if not the season) - The Great Gatsby. It's just that I'm recovering from a very unpleasant spring fever, and the thought of Baz Luhrmann pummelling my senses into submission with his customary assault of razzle and dazzle was just a bit too much to bear. I promise to weigh in with my thoughts on the long-anticipated adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic next week.

For now, you'll have to make do with something a little bit lighter - not that you'd assume 20th Century Fox's latest 3D animated feature is light... with a title like 'Epic'.

Nevertheless, it's a diverting trip to the cinema - an intriguing mid-point between the barnstorming superhero films that will continue to assail us well into the end of the year and the quainter pleasures of a classic fairytale lovingly (re?)told.

Because it's become a given that there's no such thing as an original story. All of our favourite films and books share some distant, ancient antecedent.

Nowhere is this more true than in Hollywood, where formulaic stories are churned out by the dozen every week, a situation recently made worse by an economic recession that has made studios even more cautious about taking a risk and being even the slightest bit innovative. And in turn, it's animated features aimed at children that tend to stick to the most rigidly prescribed formulas, partly because they are, in fact, based on classic fairy or folk tales.

The trick is to provide audiences with something that feels familiar, but not repetitive - archetypal, not stereotypical.

For a while, it begins to look as though director Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Robots) has managed to crack the golden formula, as Epic's initial arc shapes up to look something like a weird hybrid between Avatar and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Having recently lost her mother, the teenager Mary Katherine (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) packs her bags to go stay with her eccentric father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis) - who is convinced that the woods are populated by a civilisation of fairy creatures (an obsession that, 'MK' reminds him, cost him both his job and his marriage). But we know the poor Professor is merely misunderstood, having caught a glimpse of the same fairy folk (or 'Leafmen'... they're a bit like the Elves from The Lord of the Rings) in the opening shots.

Ruled by the benevolent Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles), they are a content but uneasy community, constantly made to look over their shoulder for the Boggans, their evil counterparts, led by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz).

When Mandrake ambushes their settlement and strikes a decisive blow, the Leafmen grow desperate about the future of their land. But by coincidence, Mary Katherine stumbles into the forest at the decisive moment, inheriting the key to their safety from the Queen... a move that also leaves her as tiny as the rest of the forest fairies.

It is now up to a confused Mary Katherine, the Leafman warrior Ronin (Colin Farrell) and bumbling maverick Nod (Josh Hutcherson) to ensure the safety of the kingdom before Mandrake strikes again.

Seeing the trailer for Epic, you'd think that the operative adjective refers less to the content of the film itself and more the star-studded cast. It's a pity, then, that the key players are barely recognisable - Les Miserables and Mamma Mia star Amanda Seyfried is a bit of a bland 'human' heroine, and The Hunger Games's own Peeta, Josh Hutcherson, hardly has the most distinctive voice in contemporary film (his face is rather bland too, so I guess it's good we're spared that this time around).

Despite the part being written as a sickening love letter to her own status as a pop diva, Knowles lends a warmth and quiet sass to a role that could have easily been merely functional.

Another musician fares even better. Steven Tyler, taking on the role of the not-so-sage elder Nim Galuu, is impossible to dislike (and being a paunchy glowworm, he's easy to disassociate from the lanky Tyler himself). Perhaps the star turn belongs, unsurprisingly, to Christoph Waltz.

The back-to-back Oscar winner and new Quentin Tarantino regular - having played the devious Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds and the slippery-but-lovable bounty hunter King Schulz in Django Unchained - contributes little else than his customary drawl, but it still works a treat. No actor has been so quietly menacing as a cartoon baddie since Kevin Spacey voiced an evil cockroach in A Bug's Life.

Though the narrative, quirky at first, quickly slides back into a standard mould once Mary Katherine joins the 'epic' fray, a welcome dose of action keeps things exciting. One particular set piece, where the 'fairy trio' infiltrate Prof. Bomba's studio, is especially thrilling, all the more so for being set within the trappings of the 'real' world.

In a departure from other examples of its genre that may not in fact be so commendable, there's no particular 'message' for the kids to take back home with them after the credits roll, apart from a vague reminder of the importance of the community. Really, it's more about the ride. And in this case, our characters ride on either birds or bats. If that prospect doesn't excite you even a little bit, maybe you need to give your inner child a little tickle.