Many animation fans didn't look forward to Antz, assuming that Antz was a Dreamworks knockoff of A Bug's Life courtesy of Disney defector Jeffery Katzenberg. Unless you own stock in the Walt Disney Company, I have absolutely *no* idea why you should feel personally betrayed by Katzenberg's decision to leave Disney and team up with Steven Spielberg. Judge Antz on its own merits, and you might be pleasantly surprised.
The movie's plot is more adult in nature than most animated films, an insectoid version of 1984 or Brazil. In the world of ants, nonconformity is considered abnormality. A disgruntled worker ant named Zee (voiced by Woody Allen) is a typical Woody Allen role - neurotic, and obsessed with sex and death. Through various plot twists that are largely beyond his control, Zee ends up as an icon to the same workers who mocked him, and is revered as a war hero. It's absurd, which is the film's point. There aren't any cute interludes for the kids, and the humor is aimed squarely at the grownups in the audience.
If A Bug's Life never existed, Antz would probably be rated much higher than it is. Pixar are the masters of computer animation, and the animation in Antz (while good) never reaches the heights Pixar achieves. Antz stumbles where Pixar excels - in vivid character animation. If it were not for the fantastic array of A-List voice talent in the film (Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Danny Glover, and Sharon Stone all make voice appearances), the characters themselves would only be minimally expressive. Similarly, while A Bug's Life draws from the same well of inspiration that many fables are created from, Antz, by virtue of its debt to cerebral Orwell stories, is an emotionally colder film.
Released too close to A Bug's Life, and never reaching the heights of Dreamworks' later Prince of Egypt, Antz was the Ugly Duckling of 1998 animation. It's a solid movie that is neither a classic nor deserving of harsh criticism. There are no overwhelming flaws in the film, and I predict that Antz' appeal will grow a few years from now, when the Katzenberg scenario is forgotten.
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Other NonAnime Reviews Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Review* American Pop Review* Bug's Life Review* Fantasia Review* Lord of the Rings Review |
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