Antz
Released: 1998
Version: Video
Rated: PG
Length: Approx. 87 minutes
Main Cast: Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Christopher Walken.
If you judge a movie by the number of well-known actors it has, than Antz should fit your bill just fine
However, Antz is a more grown up version of A Bug's Life. Does that mean it's bad? Nope! (Unless you're wanting it for small children.) This is one of the few good animated movies that Disney didn't produce.
The story is about an ant named Z (Woody Allen). He is dissatisfied with his life and the movie begins with him talking to a psychiatrist about how he feels like he's not worth much. Next we find out that he is a worker ant and not a lot of the other ants like him because he is always talking about how there is more to life. His best friend is a soldier ant named Weaver (Sylvester Stallone).
One day, the Queen's daughter, Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), wants some excitement and goes to the bar where she ends up dancing with (yes, you guessed it!) Z! Of course Z falls in love and manages to convince Weaver to trade places with him so he can be in the army for a day and see her again. Why does Weaver do this? Because he's Z's friend and because he wants to meet some worker chicks.
Z ends up going to war against a termite clan. He makes a friend named Barbatus (Danny Glover). This ant is really cool! Unfortunately, he bites the dust in the fight with the termites. These things are actually pretty nasty critters.
Anyway, Z escapes death by being trapped in a hole with a dead termite over it. He ends up being hailed as a hero and than almost arrested. What does Z do to get out of this predicament? Kidnap the Princess of course! They go off to the Shangri La of antdom with Colonel Cutter (Christopher Walken) hot on their trail.
The Princess is taken back to the palace where she learns what Gen. Mandible (Gene Hackman) is up to. He is her betrothed, by the way. Back to the story. The General has a terrible plot (which you'll just have to watch the film to learn more about). And he ends up locking the Princess up. Fortunately, Z is an idiot and comes to her rescue, as well as the rest of the colony and the bad guy gets what's coming to him in the end.
The Good Stuff:
 | An interesting plot |
| Lots of different ideas are in this movie that are way above the head of children. Like ethnic cleansing, and various movie references..not to mention the behaviors of the characters are derivative of the people that do their voices |
| The animation is very good |
The Bad Stuff:
| There is swearing |
| This movie is a lot grittier than A Bug's Life |
| The violence is up there in the battle sequence...and than there's the talking head. Black humor prevails |
| Z talks too much sometimes and that can get pretty annoying! |
Antz vs. A Bug's Life:
| Who wins in the animation department? No one. They are both superb, but in different ways. A Bug's Life is more cartoony whereas Antz is more realistic. Especially since Antz actually give the ants 6 legs!!! |
| The group AI is good in both too. We have tons of characters doing lots of different things in lots of scenes. However, I think Antz nudges A Bug's Life out of the picture in this category. |
| Antz's story is more original. |
| See A Bug's Life for the rest of this section |
This move has some incredible effects in it. And the story is quite good. However, this isn't a homey movie, so it is NOT recommended for children. Watch it with them if you must. For adults or teens, it is quite entertaining.
STORY: 
VIOLENCE:
(Why did they have to do that to Barbatus???)
SEXUAL CONTENT: N/A
SFX:
(Gotta love animated ants. And check out that kid's foot...and don't forget the
drunk wasp.)
LANGUAGE:
ACTION:
OVERALL SCORE: