Epic

Last Fall, William Joyce had his Guardians of Childhood books become Rise of the Guardians. This time, his book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, gets the big screen treatment. It's called Epic. If film titles were more honest, it be called OK.

Mary Katherine (M.K. For short) (Amanda Seyfried) moves in with her eccentric dad, who lives alone in the woods. Her father (Jason Sudeikis) is trying to prove the existence of a hidden world in the woods. But M.K. thinks he's nuts. That all changes when she's shrunk down to microsize by the dying Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles).

Tara, the Queen of the Forest, was the only one who could fix the damage of the evil Boggans. She had a magic pod that'll bloom into her successor by the light of the full moon. With her gone, the Boggans are free to destroy the Forest. M.K. has the pod now, and with the heroic Leafmen, she has to get it to bloom the right away. If it doesn't bloom with moonlight, it'll be a new Boggan.

The end result is good, but not that good. Its story-line was typical, but fortunately, not apathy-inducing average. It's helped by its cast of characters, especially the Chief Boggan Mandrake (Christoph Waltz). It's also helped by some nice visuals and Danny Elfman score. Still, some of its humor was more appealing to the kids in the audience than me.

Epic isn't as big as its title suggests. But if you're looking for a good family matinee, it'll do nicely. It may be cliched, but it doesn't wear out its welcome for anyone in the audience.