Ant
Bully is a surprisingly entertaining CG animated feature. It sort of plays like
Honey I Shrunk the Kids from the ant's point of view. While I wouldn't rank Ant
Bully up there with the likes of Pixar's features (or Shrek for that matter),
I did enjoy it more than the barrage of CG animated features we've been bombarded
with as of late (Barnyard, The Wild, Madagascar etc.).
The
Ant Bully is based on the children's book by John Nickle, and tells the story
of a scrawny young boy name Lucas. Tired of being picked on, little Lucas takes
his aggression out on a ant hill in the back yard. Little does this kid know,
that by doing so, he's virtually wiping out the complex network of an entire civilization.
Meanwhile,
the ants themselves have had it with the abuse brought down upon them by the humans.
Inventor drone Zoc (voiced by Nicolas Cage) in particular, is fed up with such
genocidal disrespect. So, through the aid of a potion he's created, he sets out
to teach Lucas a lesson, by means of shrinking the youngster down to their size.
Of course, once miniaturized and held captive, Lucas is terribly frightened, immediately
penitent and horribly uncertain as to designs of his former playthings.
To
the colony's dismay, the ant queen (voiced by Meryl Streep) orders that the shrunken
Lucas learn the way of the drone as a form of punishment. The colony just as soon
eat the little runt after all the destruction he caused. However, they must abide
by the queen's wishes. Before long, Lucas learns the way of the ant and he quickly
discovers that their world has a stronger sense of unity than the one he came
from.
Yes, Ant
Bully is a message movie, but it doesn't beat anything over the audience's head.
It teaches without being overbearing and preachy, and it's message about team
work is a good one. Particularly for the kids. Clearly, the film is also an allegory
for war, but it didn't bug me like I thought it would. It works surprisingly well.
The
vocal work is terrific, and Bruce Campbell in particular steals the show as a
wise cracking ant who flees at the sight of danger. I also got a kick out of a
hilarious Paul Giamatti who lends his voice as the villainous exterminator. In
an interesting bit of trivia, Giamatti's Sideways co-star Thomas Haden Church
recently voiced an exterminator in Over the Hedge.
Ant
Bully looks gorgeous. It's colorful and alive with all the stunning imagery one
comes to expect from the medium. The most impressive sequence in the picture occurs
during the climax and features the ants and a squad of wasps attacking the evil
exterminator – Star Wars style! I wish I could have seen this flick in Imax
3-D. Given the opportunity, that would be the way to experience Ant Bully.
It's
been a long and arduous trek to the big screen for Ant Bully, (given the release
of A Bug's Life and Antz), still this is a film with a tone and personality all
it's own. While not perfect, it's one of the better non-Pixar CG animated features.
Props to Producer Tom Hanks for helping get the project off the ground. Just off
the ground.
