Very clever movie, but language was too weak.

Rating: Null/10 (15 October 1998)

Disney's worst crime is its bowdlerization of the animated film: moviegoers expect that animated features will be targeted toward children, will be as spicy and complex and challenging as rice pudding. Not so this flick: go see it for the tons of subtle visual puns and throwaway jokes that are constantly in the background. The attention to detail is astounding: in the bar scene, the aphids (antly analogue for beer bottles) are placed without fanfare on plant stems between each use, so that they might replenish their juices. Don't take your children if they are very young: there's a scene of terrifying violence early in the movie.
Personally, I couldn't give a flying flip about language in a movie, for the most part, but the language in this movie bothered me: it was clearly geared toward the rating. To wit: a blissed-out hippy fly says, "this tastes like crap." Now, I know Spielberg has spent time around hippies; I know that he knows how they talk. And let me tell you what, "crap" isn't the word a hippy would use there, any more than a mad New York executive would shout to his secretary, "Sheila, get in here, gosh darn it!" Why did they decide to dumb down the language?
That's a minor complaint, however, in an otherwise extremely competent, mature, and clever film. If you enjoy under-stated jokes as much as I do, you'll have a blast.