. ANTZ
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1998 Christopher Null
Every ant has his day. At least, that's what Woody Allen would have you think, in this twisted animated version of ANNIE HALL meets BRAZIL. Starting with a moody grass-scape of what turns out to be a quiet corner of Central Park, voiced-over by Allen's `Z', a hapless worker ant who feels the weight of the colony--so to speak--on his back, ANTZ tracks a lot like any Allen flick.
In fact, if it wasn't for all the forumla-driven bad guys, perilous situations, and narrow escapes, ANTZ would be *exactly* like any other Allen film. But this is animation, and that means kid-pleasing effects must plaster the screen. Sadly, this hurts the story to the point where ANTZ will quickly get lost in the shuffle of animated films coming out over the next year, despite its unique touches. To make matters worse, some of the more gruesome scenes, including an ant-termite battle that would leave Private Ryan wetting himself, are decidedly not for children.
Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. And if the humdrum trailer for A BUG'S LIFE is any indication, ANTZ is going to be the best we'll see out of computer animation for awhile, at least until TOY STORY 2. But, to paraphrase Z himself, a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-changes-underlying-social-structure movie... just isn't that original. Even if it is about ants.
More story, less silly antics. Maybe then I'll be inclined to put down my can of Raid....
RATING: ***1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Eric Darnell, Lawrence Guterman Producer: Brad Lewis, Aron Warner, Patty Wooton Writer: Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz Starring: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken
http://www.antz.com
-Christopher Null / null@sirius.com / Writer-Producer / http://www.filmcritic.com
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