Antz (Widescreen)

Dreamworks SKG's ANTZ, co-directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson, and released in September of 1998 (a full month before Disney/Pixar's A BUG'S LIFE), tells the very engaging story of a neurotic, lowly worker ant simply named Z (wouldn't his name be Zed in the British version?) voiced by The Woodman himself, whose constantly nagging thoughts of a better existence outside the mindless ant colony drive him to distraction. I love the opening scene with him on the ant psychologist's couch--it's classic Woody from his early comedic period! Actually, the entire film's script is like that, reading like one of his early classics such as TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969) or PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM (1972). After a decade of directing brilliant but increasingly heavy-handed films beginning with CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989), it's refreshing to hear Woody Allen voicing a role that reminds us of how funny a comedic actor he is. The casting of Allen is the lead role here was pure genius.

My advice is to see this film with an open mind; forget about "The Battle of the Bugs" as ANTZ has really nothing whatsoever to do with A BUG'S LIFE, with the only exception being that both films star a nerdy ant who attempts to win the affection of the ant colony princess. That's the only similarity! Otherwise, ANTZ is a much-more-grownup story dealing with Z's attempt to woo Princess Bala (Sharon Stone, brilliantly expressive in a surprisingly comedic role) by switching places with his big, macho soldier-ant friend Weaver (Sylvester Stallone, in a fun and equally surprisingly comedic role of his own). Unfortunately for Z, Princess Bala's powerful, but darkly sinister, fiancee General Mandible (Gene Hackman) sends the ant colony into battle against a nearby termite colony, in which Z pairs up with gungo-ho soldier-ant Barbatus (Danny Glover) who saves his life in battle. Being the only ant who survives the battle (which is a bit gruesome, by the way), Z is welcomed back as the unlikely hero, 'accidentally' kidnaps Princess Bala and seeks out this land of freedom known as Insectopia, about which he was told by an old, crazy ant at the ant-bar. Inspired by his example, the other worker ants begin revolting against their way of life, hilariously spouting Socialist slogans along the way. The Queen (Anne Bancroft) is concerned; however, General Mandible has plans of his own.

ANTZ is darkly comic and self-knowing; it never takes itself too seriously. One aspect for which it has been criticized is how literally dark it is; taking place mostly inside an underground ant colony, it is mostly sepia-toned. A BUG'S LIFE has more primary colors throughout. (Although to an unrealistic extent---I mean, c'mon, when have you ever seen blue ants?) However, the scenes outside the ant colony in ANTS are actually very bright and colorful. Again, these are just two different films: ANTS, with its mildly adult language, themes and occasional violence, is definitely PG-rated. Its humor is appreciated more by adults than kids. That doesn't mean you should go the extreme route of not letting your pre-teen kid see it (it is, after all, rated PG, not PG-13); however, I wouldn't recommend it for the under-8-year-old-set either. Like with anything else, just use your judgment.

The final verdict in my review: ANTZ is a very entertaining combination of 3-D animation and excellent voice-over acting by excellent (and very well-cast) actors such as all who were previously named, plus Christopher Walken, Dan Aykroyd, Jennifer Lopez, John Mahoney, Grant Shaud and Paul Mazursky. It is true that A BUG'S LIFE has superior animation; however, ANTZ has the better and more engaging story. My recommendation is to show A BUG'S LIFE to your 4-year-old-and-above kids; when they reach 8, then start showing them ANTZ. Again, these films have different audiences, and therefore different things to appreciate about each of them. The good thing is that each movie can be appreciated on various levels, so the audience for each is still pretty wide. It's just that ANTZ's audience is not quite as wide as A BUG'S LIFE. But that's okay; ANTZ succeeds brilliantly in its mission to provide an entertaining combo of action for older pre-teen kids and humor for teens/adults. Unfortunately, the DVD doesn't offer a lot of extras, but what it does contain is quite cool, especially the behind-the-scenes look at the film. If you like this type of humor and appreciate 3-D animation, then buy ANTZ if you haven't already done so.

RECOMMENDED
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR WOODY ALLEN FANS


very funny   January 4, 2004
Very cute and funny film about ants and their lives. Great for adults and kids.


Or maybe 3 and a half   December 21, 2003
Antz is a good movie, and not at all boring, however, perhaps it missed the primary target audience a bit. Unlike Bugs Life, or more recent movies like Monsters Inc., Shrek, and others, this movie took a bit of a different tack. The actors providing voice overs here, Allen, Stallone, Stone, Hackman and others don't seem to hit the nail on the head when it comes to "children's movies" and since I'm not saying they were cast poorly, I guess I'm saying that the movie tries to be too sophisticated.
It is entertaining, and I'd even say worth owning, but judging by how often we've viewed it compared to other similar movies, I just couldn't rate it as high.