Fantastic animation; mediocre story

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 1999)

I thought this was the most sophisticated animation I have ever seen, 2-D or 3-D. The bird attack and the rain storm scenes were unbelievable. The bloopers were a riot!
But again Hollywood pumps out a high-gloss, low-impact movie. For all its beauty, it was a pretty ho-hum story. They could have really played up the Seven Samurai angle by offering a more in-depth, poignant view of the life of these oppressed ants. Perhaps tugged on the heart-strings a little more. I found myself almost rooting for the grasshoppers against these simple, whining ants. A little more character development could have made this the greatest animated feature of all time.