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Epic | 2013 | PG | - 1.4.1
When a teenager (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) comes to live with her oddball father after the death of her mother, she finds herself trapped in a different world, one of miniature creatures of the forest. After the forest is threatened by evil, she, her father and her new band of rag-tag friends work together to save their world. Also with voices of Blake Anderson, Aziz Ansari, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Christoph Waltz and Beyonce Knowles. Directed by Chris Wedge. [1:42]
SEX/NUDITY 1 - A miniature teenage girl instructs a miniature teenage boy to put his arms around her, which he does, and they kiss; as they kiss the girl is pulled away by a glittery wind that interrupts them.
► A miniature teenage girl and a miniature teenage boy lean in, about to kiss, but the boy shakes the girl's hand instead. A miniature teenage boy instructs a miniature teenage girl to put her arms around him, reaching out his hand to her; the girl jokes, saying she barely knows him and the boy lifts her up with their faces close (they do not kiss). A miniature teenage boy instructs a miniature teenage girl to put her arms around him as he pilots a sparrow they are riding; the girl balks, saying she does not know him. A miniature woman and a miniature man stand with their faces very close; the woman appears almost ready to kiss the man until they are interrupted.
► Throughout the movie, a slug flirts with a miniature teen girl. A miniature man teases a miniature teenage boy, saying that he can dress up and the boy can be his "lady friend."
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VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A miniature man fires an arrow into a piece of tree bark and a frog/insect like creature with the arrow in its torso (there's no blood) lurches from the bark and falls to the ground followed by the bark of the tree, which changes into frog/insect like creatures, that engage in battle with a group of miniature men; the frog/insect like creatures fire arrows at the miniature men and when the arrows hit the ground rot spreads killing all plant life; the frog/insect like creatures attack a group of dragonflies carrying a miniature woman in a leaf boat, the leaf boat falls to the ground and the woman runs to escape chased by a frog/insect like creature; the woman grabs a miniature girl, who helps her pull down a tree root on top of a group of frog/insect like creatures and an arrow hits the woman in the torso (there's no blood) and she continues to run until a life-sized teen girl finds the dying woman, who speaks her final words and turns into glitter and moss; a miniature man throws a frog/insect like creature off the back of a raven and we learn that the frog/insect like creature was the son of the leader of the frog/insect like creatures and that he died; we later see the teen girl experience a flashback where she sees the miniature woman dying a second time and a caterpillar also experiences the flashback, remarking that the teen girl's flashback is very vivid.
► A miniature man meets up with a miniature teenage girl and a miniature teenage boy and they discuss their chances of escaping from a rotten tree, surrounded by frog/insect like creatures who want to kill a flower bud that they need to protect; the man tells the teens to escape while he creates a diversion and the man leaps into the middle of a tree stump drawing attention to himself; many frog/insect like creatures race toward him and he engages in hand-to-hand combat as the girl and the boy escape with a slug and a snail, but a mosquito creature tries to pull the girl and the boy off the backs of the slug and snail until a frog/insect like creature gets into a slap-fight with the boy and the mosquito gets in a slap-fight with the slug; the slug, snail and teens escape unharmed as the miniature man is surrounded by frog/insect like creatures and confronted by the "main" frog/insect like creature; they have a drawn-out sword battle and it is implied that the miniature man might have been killed, but we later see him alive, with a black eye.
► A swarm of bats being ridden by frog/insect like creatures are directed to block the sky when a group of miniature men riding hummingbirds engages them; a miniature teenage girl throws an acorn backwards, knocking a frog/insect like creature off a bat (a dog eats the frog/insect like creature when it hits the ground); the frog/insect like creatures on bats try to punch the miniature men off the hummingbirds and we see two miniature men knocked off hummingbirds (we do not see them hit the ground); many bats are knocked down, but the frog/insect like creatures are not seen hitting the ground; a frog/insect like creature hits the bird that a miniature teenage boy is riding causing the bird to turn into a skeleton and the boy begins to fall to the ground but he leaps onto a tree safely.
► A miniature man and a frog/insect like creature engage in a heated battle and the frog/insect like creature remarks that he will not "leave" the miniature man for dead, but will make sure he is dead; they fight with swords and we see the frog/insect like creature knock the miniature man to the ground and places its foot on top of the man (we see rot bubbling from where the frog/insect like creature's foot is on the man's chest) until a miniature teenage boy strikes the frog/insect like creature (we see a swirl of glitter appear and blow away the frog/insect like creature).
► During a heated battle, we see a miniature man and a frog/insect like creature punching one another, circling each other and the frog/insect like creature fires multiple arrows at the miniature man, missing.
► A man watches as three large crows chase a hummingbird and that scene cuts between the full-size man and a miniature teen boy riding on the back of the hummingbird, being chased by three frog/insect like creatures riding on the backs of crows; the scene cuts between the two perspectives, stopping with the miniature teen boy being thrown off his hummingbird and leaping from tree to tree while the frog/insect like creatures fire arrows at him, missing, but creating bubbles of rot on the trees as the arrows hit; the boy leaps from tree to tree, but is knocked off a leaf and is saved, moments before hitting the ground, by a miniature man riding on a hummingbird; the man fires an arrow at one of the frog/insect like creatures on the back of a raven, knocking it off the bird (we see what is implied to be the frog/insect like creature hitting the windshield of a taxi) and in full-size perspective, we see the miniature teen boy's hummingbird fall to the ground, and it is picked up by a man, who takes the saddle off the bird, and then sets it free, unharmed.
► A swarm of frog/insect like creatures on the backs of ravens chase a miniature teenage girl and a miniature teenage boy on the back of a sparrow: the boy steers the sparrow to the ground, crashing and dipping into a mouse hole and the boy is terrified when a mouse appears (it is three times larger than the teens), bears its teeth and tries to attack the girl; the boy leaps out of the hole to safety and when the girl tries to do the same, she hits her head and lands unconscious on the ground; the boy distracts the mouse as it corners the girl and a miniature man jumps into the hole and cuts off one of the mouse's whiskers before it scampers away and the girl and the boy escape safely.
► A frog/insect like creature slaps another frog/insect like creature angrily while a large mosquito watches and laughs; the frog/insect like creature punches the laughing mosquito as the first frog/insect like creature walks away and they are seen slapping/hitting one another as the other frog/insect like creature disappears.
► A frog/insect like creature riding on the back of a massive mole rips through the center of a tree where a large group of humanized plants and forest creatures are standing and the frog/insect like creature shouts at the crowd, then grabs a snail and a slug and quickly races away; a miniature man tries to chase them but is stopped when rocks block the underground tunnel.
► A miniature man slams a miniature teenage boy against a wall angrily as a miniature teenage girl watches and the man then shouts at the boy.
► A frog/insect like creature shows off the pelt of a rat to his father, with the skull of the rat being used by him as a helmet; the frog/insect like creature tells his father that the rat was "caught in the crossfire" during a fight earlier in the day.
► We see a miniature teenage boy being roughed up by a frog and a mole when the frog lifts up the boy (we only see his torso and leg) and we hear a punching noise, then the frog instructs a miniature man to kill the boy by feeding him to a snake until a second miniature man interrupts them, suggesting that the frog put the boy in a beehive to torture him and the frog drops the boy and walks away, obviously upset; the boy later jokes with the man that he was punched twice and the man did nothing to stop it.
► A miniature teenage girl, a miniature teenage boy and a miniature man run through a full-sized office as a full-sized dog chases them: a full-size man (the miniature teenage girl's father) chases them and captures the girl inside a vacuum; he looks at her and passes out from shock hitting his head on a table (we see him being awakened by the sound of a buzzer and he is unharmed).
► During a high-speed competitive race, we see a miniature teenage boy on the back of a sparrow crash through a thorn bush; he rides through and comes out unharmed. A miniature teenage girl jumps and slides off the head of a hummingbird as the hummingbird snaps at her bottom (the girl is unharmed). A miniature teen boy on the back of a bird crashes in front of a miniature man and the boy stands up unharmed. A miniature teenage girl leaps from a windowsill aiming for a life-size table but falls and hits a tin; she stands up unharmed. A miniature teenage girl and a miniature teenage boy leap down from a tree; the girl shrieks in fear, but stands up as she hits the ground, unharmed. A miniature teenage girl shrieks as a miniature teenage boy flies on the back of a sparrow.
► A man jokingly refers to an elderly dog as only having three legs and the man's teenage daughter is surprised when she sees the dog alive. We see an elderly dog throughout the movie and it appears healthy, but missing a front leg and one of its eyes (we see a closed eyelid where a second eye should be). A three-legged dog falls as it tries to stretch from a chair to a desk; it is unharmed. A man stumbles, stands up and runs quickly, then stumbles a second time. A frog/insect like creature slips on slug slime then rights itself. A man falls out of a tree and a camera falls off the tree at the same time. A man is startled when a teen girl (his daughter) surprises him. A miniature teenage girl is startled when she backs into a talking caterpillar.
► A teen girl and her father act disgusted as they watch a computer monitor and the girl implies that she is watching a slug try to eat a miniature teenage boy (we do not see it). A slug, its eyes on the end of antenna and sticking off its head, jokingly hits a miniature teenage boy in the eye with its eye. We see a slug "suck" its antenna-eyes into its head and then spin them around in his mouth. A frog/insect like creature pokes a slug in the eye, and the slug in turn pokes the snail in the eye. A slug and a snail tease one another, and then tickle each other.
► A slug is shoved in front of a miniature teenage boy, we see the boy's face bounce into what would be the slug's backside and the slug jokes, "Enjoy the view." A slug and a snail talk to a fruit fly, remarking how the fly was spending his short life as the fly transforms into a progressively older fly, and then croaks and falls over, dead (for humor).
► A caterpillar announces to a massive gathering of humanized acorns, flowers and forest creatures that the "queen of the forest" had died. A frog/insect like creature warns a slug, "If flower dies, you die." A miniature man and a miniature teenage boy mock a miniature teenage girl's full-sized father, saying that he crashes through the forest. A miniature teenage boy tells a miniature teenage girl that a "crasher" (i.e. a full-sized human) had killed his uncle; the boy laughs and reveals that he was joking. A miniature man mentions the death of a miniature teenage boy's father on two occasions. A man vaguely refers to the death of his teenage daughter's mother and the girl tells him that she does "not want to talk about it." A teen girl's voiceover explains that there is an eternal struggle between "rot and decay" and the life of the forest. A man refers to bats flying into hair, saying it is a myth.
LANGUAGE 1 - 1 mild anatomical term, 1 mild obscenity derivative (heck), name-calling (vile, gaudy, unlike you – she's got orders, old fleabag, disgusting, flat face, funny, psychopaths, idiot, crazy old uncle, jerk, like a bear, big dumb and slow, ginormous flabby and stinky, mean, head like rocks, whole lot of ugly, terrible, big bag of shut-your-flat-face, jelly butt).
SUBSTANCE USE - We see a group of forest creatures and humanized plants "cheering" with drinks and a fruit fly holding what appears to be a beer stein.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Environmental preservation, trusting instincts, death of a parent, grief, trust, familial ties, acceptance, revenge.
MESSAGE - Family bonds are tested but strong.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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