Much, much better than the irrelevant "Antz." *** out of *****

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 1998)

"A Bug's Life" is a colorful tale that suffers from the same syndrome as "Antz" does at first, but with its amusing and childish characters, along with a firm, clear plot, it manages to somehow dig itself out of a rather troublesome hole and entertain the audience to satisfaction.
My first urge to talk to you about in my review of "A Bug's Life" is obviously to compare this film with its successful competitor, "Antz." Both movies are about the lives of ants. Only one actually works. "Antz," that I gave **1/2 to, was dark, both in color and in plot. The visuals weren't satisfying and the characters weren't fun. They were sick, unhappy, average ants, and personally, you going have to do better than that to please me.
"A Bug's Life" is full of color, happiness and childish fun. The main character wasn't based on a person like Woody Allen, he is a creative inventor, who devises all kinds of interesting gadgets and gismos. He is also a klutz on the side, which is what the amusing story evolves from.
The visual effects, led by director John Lasseter, are lush, rich images. The bugs are extremely well detailed. A rain looks like the colony is being water-bombed. The soundtrack is catchy and tuneful. The colors are mind-blowingly realistic.
At the end of the movie, the bugs act as if they are the one who made this movie. They show us mistakes that they made during the film, like Jackie Chan films. We experience dialog mistakes, clumsiness of the characters and many more clever and funny sequences. I believe that people are calling this "Bug Bloopers." A Bug's Life" would never be as good as "Toy Story" in its wildest dreams, but I sill think it is worth your time.