Antz

Rating:
Summary: CGI Ant Story Meets Early Woody Allen--and Pulls It Off!
Review: "The Battle of the Bugs" is what the media labeled Dreamworks SKG's (successful) attempt to get their 3-D animated bug story released in theaters before Disney did, although the former began production several weeks after the latter. Whose film would be released first: The Company of Michael Eisner, or that of his former disgruntled employee Jeffrey Katzenberg? In retrospect, this behind-the-scenes drama seems more than a bit silly, because: 1) That a similarly-themed movie is released first does not necessarily guarantee bigger box office than its competition, and 2) The solidly-PG-rated ANTZ has less in common with the indisputably-G-rated A BUG'S LIFE than one might think, and 3) Therefore, each film attracted a different audience. As it turned out, both films were smash hits: A BUG'S LIFE made a lot more money (as I'm sure it was destined to do), but ANTZ garnered better reviews.

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

Rating:
Summary: very funny
Review: Very cute and funny film about ants and their lives. Great for adults and kids.

Rating:
Summary: Antz is not for anyone
Review: I have to say nothing but this... "Antz" is a bad film that should had never been produced. This movie is not for kids or adults at all. I rented this movie during the Christmas holiday to see how funny it would be and how intellegent it will look. My favorite movie in the whole entire world is "Finding Nemo". I really like "Finding Nemo" more than any other movie in the whole wide world, but this is litterally the complete opposite. This review might look like the one that David N. Bass had said.

This is not a movie for anyone. If I were you, please skip this damn movie. This movie is not good. IT'S HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (not my least favorite movie, but one of them).

Well at first I thought "A Bug's Life" was going to be an awful movie, but then it turned out to be a good film (not the greatest movie ever), but, at least, it is way better than the crappy "Antz".

Rating:
Summary: Or maybe 3 and a half
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: More than a kid's movie
Review: Antz has deep social issues within the movie. It follows the life of an embattled ant named Z (notice the name choice to signify the "last") and his struggle to break free from the grips of structured society. The hidden meanings are very deep and the animation and the acting are top-notch as well. This movie is not only for kids. Adults should watch it as well, and learn a thing or two about rising above the crowd. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Political Philosophy
Review: This is a great movie to watch in the context of political philosophy, especially when concerned with Plato's Republic. The movie is actually a pretty solid argument against the bronze-silver-gold (worker-soldier-queen) society which Plato creates in his "just" city.

Rating:
Summary: An inoculation against irrational Disney animation
Review: Antz looks like standard animation fare. I didn't expect a great movie, or even a good movie. Boy was I wrong. Antz is to standard animation as 1984 is to political novels. What's more, it out-1984s 1984, and is in the league of, but not as political as, Rand's "Anthem".

Antz is the story of a neurotic worker ant named Z-4195, masterly scripted and voiced by Woody Allen, as a depressed individualist in a microcosm where complete conformity, obedience and class-based social structure is the rule. The only thing that keeps him from becoming a total outcast is his friend Weaver, a soldier ant voiced by Sylvester Stallone.

Attracted to the princess of the colony, "Z" switches places with Weaver in a ploy to see her again, but is caught in a full-scale battle with a termite colony where he is the only survivor. While his individualism becomes contagious and creates turmoil amongst the other ants, he and the princess set in a journey to try to find the fabled Insectopia.

Other voice actors are Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Anne Bancroft, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, and Dan Aykroyd. As goofy as the voice casting choices may sound, they really work. The humour will probably appeal more to adults than children (as for example Woody Allen pointing out that "when you're the middle child in a family of five million, you don't get any attention."). The views of the colony are impressive, even for an animation. A sense of scale and wonder is maintained throughout, under as well as over ground. The Insectopia, for example, turns out to be a picnic which, thanks to plastic bags and a looking glass, is more work than expected.

As a nice touch, there are socialist slogans everywhere, like "FREE TIME IS FOR TRAINING" (an actual real-life PDI slogan), and even an Atlas ant, in Atlas Shrugged pose, with the words "CONQUER IDLENESS". The evils of statism are not presented as stereotypical evil, but rather as an honestly-held belief, just as they are in real life. Even the backstabbing General Mandible is motivated by an ideology which, to simple minds, would make sense. While the worker ants rise up against their oppressors, they still hold their false premises, and chant socialist slogans : and as well they are quickly turned back into obedience by promises of more material gain by General Mandible.

While Disney continues to churn out mediocre animation which preaches the evils of collectivism, obedience and altruism (including the competitor to Antz, "A Bug's Life"), Antz is an incredible case in point of rationality, coupled with good humour, a sense of wonder, and modern technology, triumphing in modern movies. If you like animation, I cannot recommend "Antz" enough.

Weaver: What are you bitching about? In case you haven't noticed, we ants are running the show ! We're the Lords of the Earth !

Rating:
Summary: Not as good
Review: This is a Woody Allen movie. From the opening shot to the dialogue, it's a constant surprise how much this resembles other Woody Allen Movies.

It doesn't have the charm and good nature of "Bug's Life" and I'm not sure I'd show it to younger children. In fact, there are some scenes later in the movie that are downright gruesome.

But there's some wit here, and it's definately worth a look, if not a buy.

Rating:
Summary: A smart and funny movie
Review: . Woody Allen stars as Z "he never looked better lol", an ant who has his own dreams and is tired of having to be the same as everyone else. He falls in love with a princess (voiced by Sharon Stone) who is tired of the same ole thing as well. She is to be wed to a general voiced by Gene Hackman who has a big scheme to drowned out the whole colony of ants. Z gets into a whole lot of trouble when he kid-naps her and leaves the colony to find a place called insect topia where bugs can live with no rules.

The result is a charming and funny movie with great one liners by Woody Allen who I usually find annoying. He's less annoying when you don't have to see his face lol. I liked him a lot here, he's very funny. Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone are also funny. Gene Hackman and Christopher Walked do good as well as the more serious characters of the movie. Some people say the film has no moral but it does. It's about thinking for yourself and living your life as you choose to.

Rating:
Summary: Great Film for Kids or Adults
Review: This film has more stars in it that you can shake a stick at, not that you'd do that because it would be rude! Anyway, this film has some serious star power, with names like Stallone, Woody Allen, J. Lo, Sharon Stone, Christopher Walken, Danny Glover and more. This film is as big a treat for adults as it is for kids.

The film follows a lowly worker ant, aptly named 'Z' through his monotonous life, which by the way, he's sick of. He yearns for something different. In typical Hollywood style, he gets it, and gets more than he bargained for!

The CGI animation is spectacular, as is the voice acting. The extras on the disk are also pretty good, although that's not really why I got it. I really liked the plot and the characters. Woody Allen was a perfect fit as 'Z'. I liked this film much more than 'A Bug's Life', which I found a bit slow. The characters didn't have as much appeal in ABL as Antz either.

Like I said before, this is a great film for kids and adults. It has a good message, which is, even the smallest person (or ant) can make a difference.