Much better than Antz!!!

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2002)

Ahh... The Disney/Pixar magic is back. I waited three years for A Bug's Life, and it did not disappoint. Unlike it's direct competition, Antz, A Bug's Life is a light hearted, fun filled adventure directed at kids, but good enough for adults. Flik (voice of Dave Foley) is an ant. And like all ants in his colony, he picks grains and fruits all year long. And once a year, the bad grasshoppers, lead by Hopper (voice of Kevin Spacey) come to the colony and take all the grain. The ants just accept this as their way of life. But one day Flik decides to do something different. He figures if the ants can recruit bigger and badder insects, they can scare the grasshoppers away, and keep all the food for themselves. So he heads to the "big city" to find some really tough bugs. Unfortunately for him, he finds some circus bugs who he thinks are tough. But he brings them back to the colony, and through the magic of luck, they manage to scare the grasshoppers away.
Obviously everyone and their mother is going to compare A Bug's Life to that other bug movie that came out a couple months before. The biggest difference is that the other movie was aimed more at the adult crowd, while this movie is aimed towards kids. The characters are cuter, funnier, and more fun. With characters like Flik, and Dot, and Tuck & Roll (my favorites), A Bug's Life makes it fun to go to the movies. I didn't have any fun when I saw Antz. With Woody Allen's neurotic attitude, and all those dead bugs, I felt like I was watching an animated war film. With A Bug's Life, I felt like I was watching a light-hearted comedy with spectacular animation. I honestly felt that at times I was really watching bugs in my backyard. It felt so real it was amazing. And another thing I've come to realize, even in animation, it's important to have a story that people want to see. Now I realize Antz made a lot of money, but I'm not sure why. With A Bug's Life I felt like a kid again. I cheered for the good bugs, and booed the bad bugs. The circus bugs were cutely drawn, and the voices matched the bugs perfectly. Woody Allen as an ant just didn't fly for me. But David Hyde-Pierce as a stick bug was perfect. Basically what I'm saying is, if you want to see what real animation is about, a good story, fun characters, good voices, and most of all a good time, rent A Bug's Life. Besides, you get two pluses. One, they showed Pixar's 1997 Academy Award winning animation short, Geri's Game before the movie, and they had these hilarious "outtakes" during the closing credits. Quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen. So have a good time...