Watching Insects on Nature Shows is More Interesting.

Rating: 5/10 (25 January 2016)

A Bug's Life (1998): Dir: John Lasseter / Voices: David Foley, Kevin Spacey, Denis Leary, Julia Louise-Dreyfus, David Hyde Pierce: Imaginative yet low key followup to Toy Story. Title suggests hardship with an ant colony under ruling by a gang of ruthless grasshoppers. One of the ants ventures for help and returns with a group of circus performing insects. Predictable events follow. Flick is the ant who foils everything. The new Queen fears failure. A spider creates anything from her web. Frances the ladybug has an identity problem. Directed by John Lasseter who made the previously mentioned Toy Story. Here he is backed with the same innovative images only this time the screenplay is much weaker. Voices by David Foley as Flik who is the low ant on the poll who has big hopes. He attempts to pull together help using deceit as an aid but we know his heroic fate. Kevin Spacey as Hopper the grasshopper leader is cardboard and uninteresting. Denis Leary as Francis the lady bug is perhaps the most interesting with his identity issue with perhaps the best lines. Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Princess is pretty straight forward and dull. David Hyde Pierce voices a walking stick insect appropriately named Slim. While writing is weak families will no doubt enjoy its humour. It contains a strong theme of talents assisting in its animated world. Score: 5 / 10