Epic(2013)

Plot Summary

• Seventeen-year-old Mary Katherine, or M.K., (Amanda Seyfried) moves in with her eccentric scientist father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), who has been searching for tiny human soldiers called Leafmen. They protect the forest Bomba lives near evil creatures called Boggans and their malevolent leader Mandrake (Christoph Waltz). An independent young soldier, Nod (Josh Hutcherson) decides to quit, much to the ire of the no-nonsense Leafmen leader Ronin (Colin Farrell). Nod was Ronin's protege & his best soldier but has a real problem in following orders and authority.The queen of the forest, Queen Tara (Beyoncé Knowles), must choose an heir to her throne and goes out to a field of leaf pods, guarded by a laid-back slug named Mub (Aziz Ansari) and a wannabe Leafman snail named Grub (Chris O'Dowd). Ronin warns Tara that Boggans have been scouting their defenses in a bid to stop Tara from choosing her heir, but Tara insists on a public ceremony.Boggans are the forces of forest rot & kill everything in their path. Leafmen, with Tara, are the forces of life who regenerate the forces & maintain the balance. Boggans want to kill Tara before she chooses an heir, so that the Leafmen are left without the powers to regenerate & Boggans can take over the forest.Tara chooses the smallest pod as the heir. Immediately after she does so, the Boggans attack. Tara flees the area with the pod, and though her bodyguards do their best to protect her, they are soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Boggans. Tara uses her magic to slow down her pursuers and is at one point rescued by a flower child who idolizes her. Eventually, Ronin arrives for her, and the pair fly off on Ronin's hummingbird mount. They are then attacked by Mandrake and his son Dagda (Blake Anderson). Dagda is killed by Ronin, but Tara is fatally wounded when Mandrake shoots her with an arrow.Meanwhile, M.K., annoyed at her father, decides to leave and leaves a note on one of his computer monitors. Before she can leave, the family's one-eyed, three-legged dog, Ozzy, runs into the woods. While looking for Ozzy, M.K. sees Tara falling. A dying Tara gives her the pod and uses her magic to shrink her. She tells M.K. to take the pod to a Glowworm named Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler) before she dies. After meeting Ronin and the Leafmen, along with Mub and Grub, a confused and scared M.K. joins them.Ronin discovers that Nod has entered a race against other creatures and bugs on birds. Nod goes back on a deal to throw the race, with a tough bullfrog named Bufo (Pitbull) to lose the race. Before Bufo and his two henchmen can kill Nod, Ronin intervenes and orders them to leave. A reluctant Nod joins him, M.K., Mub, and Grub after hearing about Tara's death.They eventually find Nim Galuu, who, after learning about Tara's death, leads the group down to the scroll library, where M.K. discovers Tara's brief message before shrinking her, and a message that will get her back to normal size. When Ronin leaves, Nod takes M.K. on a deer ride, and they begin to fall in love. Mandrake (to whom Bufo fearfully reveals the location of the pod, which he overheard from Ronin and Nod) arrives and kidnaps Mub and Grub and imprisons them, along with the pod, which he hopes to bloom in darkness to destroy the forest and revive his son.To get into Boggan territory undiscovered, M.K., Nod, and Ronin set out to Bomba's house to get some disguises, where M.K. learns that her father is what the Leafmen call a "stomper" and that the Leafmen have been leading Bomba off their trail. After getting the disguises, Ozzy sees M.K. and chases her, catching Bomba's attention. He sees the group and catches M.K., but faints after seeing her. Before leaving, she marks where the Leafmen territory is on one of Bomba's maps with a red push-pin.When they reach the Boggan land Ronin distracts the Boggans while M.K. and Nod rescue Mub, Grub, and the pod. They are eventually found out by Mandrake, who summons the Boggans to stop them. M.K., Nod, Mub, and Grub escape alive, but Ronin sacrifices himself to ensure their escape. Before the full moon can sprout the pod at Moonhaven, Mandrake's bats block the light, causing the pod to begin sprouting in darkness. As the Leafmen set out to fight the Boggans, M.K. sets out to get her father for assistance, but an exasperated Bomba shuts off all his cameras, believing that he did not really see M.K. and that he has been insane all these years, but changes his mind when he sees the push-pin in his map.Bomba is overjoyed to see that he has been right and when he follows M.K. to Moonhaven, he uses his iPod to make bat sounds, causing the bats to follow Bomba. Meanwhile, Mub and Nim Galuu try to stop Mandrake from reaching the pod but are unsuccessful. Just then, Ronin appears, bearing scars and bruises from the Boggans. Mandrake manages to outdo him, but Ronin is defended by Nod, who finally realizes the importance of teamwork. Before Mandrake can obtain his victory, the moonlight takes over the pod before it blooms in darkness, causing it to bloom in light and defeat the Boggans.The chosen heir is the marigold child who idolized and saved Tara earlier in the film. Grub becomes a Leafman, Nod and Ronin reconcile, and Nod and M.K. kiss before M.K. is returned to her original size. After reuniting with Bomba and becoming his assistant, the human family still keeps regular contact with their new small friends as they continue the research of their world.

Storyline

• Young Mary Katherine (M.K.) returns to her eccentric scientist father's home, but his all-consuming quest to discover a tiny civilization in the neighboring forest drives them apart. However, M.K. soon finds herself shrunken down by Queen Tara of that forest who was mortally wounded by the putrefying Boggans, and charged to deliver a pod bearing the new Queen to safety. Together with a veteran Leafman warrior, two goofy mollusks and a young maverick, M.K. agrees to help. As the villainous Boggan leader Mandrake closes in, M.K. and her new friends must draw on the best of themselves together and discover what they have to save their world. — Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com) Teenager Mary "MK" Katherine returns to the house of her estranged father Professor Bomba, a widower scientist obsessed to find tiny creatures that he believes that would live in the forest. MK does not accept the lack of attention of her father with her and decides to leave him again. However the creatures do exist and protect the forest against the evil Boggans and their leader Mandrake that wish to destroy the forest. Near the solstice, Queen Tara chooses a pod to inherit her healing powers, protected by the Leaf-Men and their leader Ronin. However, they are surprised by an attack of Mandrake and the Boggans and Queen Tara is deadly wounded by Mandrake. Meanwhile, MK is leaving home and she looks for her three-legged dog Ozzy that has ran to the forest. She finds Queen Tara dying and she shrinks MK with her powers and gives her the pod. Next, Queen Tara asks MK to take the pod to Nim Galuu. When Ronin meets them, he decides to bring MK and the pod to Nim Galuu, with the protection of the young Leaf-Man Nod and slugs Mub and Grub. Along the dangerous journey, they are chased by Mandrake that wants to bloom the pod in darkness to destroy the forest. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Baffled by her estranged professor father's obsession that in the throbbing heart of the adjacent lush forest exists the minuscule realm of the noble Leaf Men and the wicked Boggans, teenager Mary Katherine, or M.K., finds herself magically transported to their mystical place. However, as a shrunken M.K. wrestles with her burgeoning disbelief, the woodland's old nemesis, Mandrake, and his evil schemes threaten to damage irreparably the hidden world. In the end, in this fierce battle between the forces of good and evil, will M.K. find the courage to embark on this thrilling adventure--and in the process--save the unseen kingdom from total destruction? — Nick Riganas 17 year old Mary Katherine, or M.K., moves in with her eccentric scientist father Professor Bomba, who has been searching for tiny humanoid soldiers called Leafmen. They protect the forest that Bomba lives near from wicked creatures called Boggans and their malevolent leader Mandrake. An independent young soldier named Nod decides to quit, much to the ire of the no-nonsense Leafmen leader Ronin. The queen of the forest, Queen Tara, must choose an heir to her throne and goes out to a field of leaf pods, guarded by a laid-back slug named Mub and a wannabe Leafman snail named Grub. Immediately after she chooses a pod, the Boggans attack. Tara flees the area with the pod, and though her bodyguards do their best to protect her, they are soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Boggans. Eventually, Ronin arrives for her and the pair fly off on his hummingbird mount. They are then attacked by Mandrake and his son Dagda. Dagda is killed by Ronin, but the former shoots Tara beforehand. Meanwhile, M.K. decides to leave after having an argument with Bomba about his research. Before she can leave, Bomba's dog Ozzy runs into the woods. While looking for Ozzy, M.K. sees Tara falling. Dying, Tara gives her the pod and uses her magic to shrink her..