"Don't worry. I know almost exactly what I'm doing."

Rating: 7/10 (29 May 2018)

I'm always late to these animated features, and didn't realize that "Antz" and "A Bug's Life" were released within a month or so of each other. If forced to choose between the two, I'd say "A Bug's Life" is the better of the two movies, but both films have a good message at their core. Where "A Bug's Life" instilled the value of hard work and persevering for a common cause, "Antz" appears more ideologically positioned as a statement of individualism versus conformity, and if one were to extend the argument, of free enterprise versus socialism. I don't want to get too heavy in reviewing what's nominally a kid's film, but if youngsters can derive the message of thinking for one's self instead of relying on group-think or surrendering their freedom to a self proclaimed, 'smarter' or 'stronger' authority, then the film will have done it's service.
The one thing I've always wondered about with animated pictures is why the film makers call on such heavy duty celebrity talent to make them. The voice actors here included Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, and Anne Bancroft. Anne Bancroft - really!! Except for Woody Allen, I didn't recognize any of the other voice characterizations, and wouldn't know who they were if I hadn't checked the film credits. My point I guess, is that for a kid's movie, what youngster is going to know or care about who's supplying the voices. I can't see how appealing to an adult audience with name actors has anything to do with telling an effective story. And guess what, the picture can be made a whole lot cheaper relying on regular folks with distinctive voices, I mean, there are plenty enough of them around. I've made the same criticism of films like the 'Mummy' series from the 1930's and 40's - why have a name actor like Lon Chaney Jr. portray a character wrapped entirely in yards of cloth? Couldn't anyone do it at half the price?