"Antz" provides proof that Hollywood takes animated films seriously. DreamWorks sunk 65 million dollars into this project, much of which must have gone to the impressive cast providing the voices: Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken, Sharon Stone, Danny Glover, Anne Bancroft, and Saturday Night Live alumni Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin.
The results are pretty good. While "Antz" is not
the great film that "Toy Story" was, it is
thoroughly enjoyable. The animation is
satisfying, the characters are interesting, there
are many funny moments, and even some suspense.
The story begins with worker ant Z-4195 (Allen)
questioning his role in the ant universe.
Seemingly fated to a life of mundane toil, his
only friends are hulking soldier ant Weaver
(Stallone) and lady co-worker Azteca (Lopez). Z
falls for Princess Bala (Stone), who is the
daughter of the queen (Bancroft).
In an attempt to meet Bala, Z cons Weaver into
trading places. The ants declare war on a
neighbor termite colony, and Z is forced into
battle. At least he makes a new friend in
Barbatus (Glover). The war with the termites is
part of an evil plan by general Mandible
(Hackman) to wipe out the colony. Mandible's
right hand man (or is it, right legged ant?) is
brooding Cutter (Walken).
The best supporting characters are a snobbish
wasp couple (Aykroyd and Curtin). They provide a
great comic relief, but unfortunately do not see
much screen time. The characters of Z and Weaver
are very familiar to students of Allen and
Stallone, and when the action slows, it is fun to
look for the actors' personalities in their
dialogue.
The animation, although very good, is not quite
up to the level of "Toy Story". The backgrounds
become redundant in color and texture, but the
foreground action is well done.
The great weakness to the story is Mandible's
genocidal plans. If he wants to abduct Bala and
begin a new colony, he can do it without
destroying the existing colony. One philosophic
question that "Antz" doesn't address: does every
cartoon needs a villain? (69/100)
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