Big starpower, Big disappointment

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 1999)

I was impressed with all the big names that were in this film and figured that it just HAD to be at least marginally entertaining. And I was right--it was sometimes marginally entertaining. I just couldn't help thinking that this could have been a much better film by doing one of two things: making this completely a childrens' movie, or making it a "grownup" movie. As it is, Antz wobbles back and forth and just doesn't do either job very well.
The animation just wasn't consistently good. Sometimes the screen was filled with beautiful eye candy, and other times it was just a plain screen with an unmoving, undetailed head of an ant that looked like something from an old video game on my old computer.
The supposedly deep underlying social messages just didn't work for me. I wasn't inspired by the emotional music and all the references to other movies just seemed to fall flat. The film's big adventures didn't seem all that adventuresome or exciting.
If they wanted to make a dark comedy for adults, they marketed the film wrong, and definitely didn't put in very much dark comedy (although the potential was definitely there). If they wanted to make a kids' movie that adults would enjoy, they somehow missed that mark as well... Next time out I hope Dreamworks has a more coherent plan before they start "filming".