Epic

Directed by Chris Wedge

(PG)

**

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Young viewers probably won’t want to watch this animated adventure again and again, but it does offer “a satisfying explosion of color on a lazy summer day,” said Stephan Lee in Entertainment Weekly. All it asks of viewers is to “ooh and aah” at the visuals and chuckle at the funny bits. The plot elements feel overly familiar, said Steven Rea in The Philadelphia Inquirer. A teenage girl recently reunited with her estranged father is magically miniaturized and discovers a secret world of tiny creatures who are doing battle over the fate of the local woods. Throw in a few “cutesy-poo supporting characters,” and you’ve got an eco-minded tale that “feels decidedly unorganic.” The celebrity voices don’t help matters, said Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times. Instead of getting caught up in the contest between the forest’s mini-queen and mini-villain, you’re thinking about Beyoncé’s “too gentle line readings” or imagining Christoph Waltz in a sound studio doing an imitation of himself. “There’s no denying the lush, often breathtaking visuals” of Epic, but “it’s got ‘wait for it on video’ written all over it.”