Antz vs. Bugs

Rating: 7/10 (19 September 2000)

The first computer-generated feature from Dreamworks is ambitious indeed. Featuring a cast of A-list actors right down to the smallest supporting roles, it's a story that works in most areas and falls a little flat in just a few sections. It's a well-written story with an ending that is just a little too neat and tidy. Another MINOR quibble I had was that, with so many famous voices, I was sometimes distracted from the story by trying to guess whose voice I was hearing.
Comparisons to Pixar's "A Bug's Life" are inevitable, with supporters and detractors on both sides. "Bugs" seemed targeted more on kids, but had an overall slickness in story and execution that seems lacking in "Antz." "Antz" was a little more sophisticated in its humor and approach to realism, but a lot if it was dark. Also, the visual style of the animation in "Antz" seemed to be trying a little too hard. The makers utilized a system of animation where the faces of the characters were given actual muscle systems to mimic the movement of human faces. While technically admirable, the overall effect made it look like real faces were plastered onto computer figures and manipulated digitally -- it didn't look awfully real. Of course, neither did "Bug's Life", but "Bugs" was from beginning to end a cartoon; it did not aspire to anything more lofty. "Antz" did and fell short.
But that's just me. I could be wrong.