“Epic Movie” (20th Century Fox)
Dumb and Dumber
“Epic Movie” is a spoof of all the big films of the past year(s). It takes shots at everything from “X-Men” to “Harry Potter.” It pays particular attention to destroying everything good in your memory about “The Chronicles of Narnia.” The fact that it does all this in a crude and dull manner is what makes it an early candidate for “worst movie of the year.”
In the film four orphans named Susan (Faune A Chambers), Edward (Kal Penn), Peter (Adam Campbell) and Lucy (Jayma Mays) are drawn together when they all get a golden ticket to the world of Willy Wonka (Crispin Glover). While there they search for a place to hide. Lucy discovers an old wardrobe and steps into it and enters the world of Gnarnia. Peter, Susan and Edward soon follow.
There they discover a world ruled by the evil Queen (Jennifer Coolidge). They also find Aslo (Fred Wiillard) who is half lion and half human. He represents the good force in this country. The four orphans find out they are brothers and sisters and battle the evil queen.
Saying the movie has this much plot is giving it more credibility than it deserves. Each segment of the film has at least one offensive moment, and most have more than one. This is the kind of movie that is so bad you feel sorry for the actors who are taking part in all the mess.
Kal Penn was on “24” recently and seemed to be trying for a career path that was not involved with stupid movies like this. But after seeing him in this fiasco it will be hard to take him seriously as an actor in any future roles. Of course this movie will probably be at the top of the box office for a week or more so maybe the exposure is worth the humiliation.
Jennifer Coolidge has always been one of my favorite comediennes. Her role as “Stifler’s Mother” is a comic gem. Again, it is a waste of her time and talent to be in a boring movie such as this one. After she has been a member of the Christopher Guest troop that gave us “A Mighty Wind” and “Best In Show” how could she let herself be dragged into this mess.
This film is rated PG-13 and that is a bigger joke than any of the comedy in the film. There is profanity as well as crude and gross humor.
The movie starts off badly and gets worse and worse. By the time the end comes you are ready to do anything to have it over. It is bad and badder, worse and worser and dumb and dumber than anything you have seen in a while. Avoid it at any cost.
I scored “Epic Movie” a run of the mill 2 out of 10.
