ANTZ (1998)
Rating: 3 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out *********************************
Directed by: Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson
Written by: Todd Alcot, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Starring: Voices of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman
Ingredients: Animated ants, bored worker ant seeking more to life
Synopsis: In an animated underground ant colony consisting of millions of ants, all of the ants are workaholic conformists except two individualistic ants. One is General Mandible (voice of Gene Hackman), a military megalomaniac who secretly plots to destroy the ant colony and create a master race. He plans to take advantage of the conformist ants by getting them to unwittingly carry out his orders.
The other individual is the humble Z, a likable, scrawny, nerdy worker ant (voice of Woody Allen), who decides that there must be more to life than fulfilling a prescribed role. Z secretly wishes for free choice, and rails against conformism in his loquacious monologues.
A series of adventures ensues when Z falls in love with the Princess Bala (voice Sharon Stone), and the two find themselves outside the colony in search of a paradise called Insectopia. Later, Z and Bala must thwart General Mandible's plot to destroy the colony. The moral of the story is that unthinkingly accepting authority could turn you into somebody else's pawn, unless you learn to think for yourself.
Opinion: One of the fun things about watching animated movies is trying to guess the voice behind the character. ANTZ features the recognizable voices of Woody Allen (nerdy ant), Sharon Stone (princess ant), Sylvester Stallone (buffed middle class soldier ant), Gene Hackman (megalomaniac general ant), and Christopher Walken (flying ant). If you're good at this sort of thing, see if you can spot Dan Aykroyd or Jennifer Lopez.
The good news is that ANTZ is an animated movie that adults can watch. The computer effects are superb and there is no shortage of sardonic wit or cultural references. The bad news is that ANTZ is not a kids movie since the Woody Allen-style social commentary isn't intelligible for young children. If forced to sit through it, they get antsy.
Reviewed October 4, 1998
Copyright © 1998 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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