Antz

Extensive cartoon violence throughout. Ants conduct a pre-emptive war against an army of termites who are huge and shoot acid from their foreheads. Combatants are stabbed, stomped, and massacred.

Overall I really like Antz. For a first film this is really good. What makes this film stand out is the fact that the film takes its audience seriously and does not dumb itself down for the sake of appealing to kiddies. The film is gritty and has interesting message. Princess Bala is the deuteragonist of the 1998 DreamWorks/PDI animated film Antz, its 2003 DreamWorks/PDI animated sequel film Antz 2, and the protagonist of the 1999 DreamWorks/PDI animated short film Basic Insect. She is voiced by Sharon Stone in all of her appearances. The daughter of the Ant.

Their lifeless bodies are shown on the remnants of the battlefield. An important character is tortured on camera, his female friend held against her will. Other scenes include: sun rays burning up insects on the ground, falls, an intimidating grasshopper, threats of being crushed by giant tennis shoes, and a sequence in which the entire ant colony narrowly escapes a ranging rush of water.

Parents need to know that Antz is an animated comedy that will have lots of appeal for teens and adults, especially for fans of 's brand of humor - ironic social commentary and perpetual worry. However, the action in this film is substantial. It's meant to be exaggerated and funny, but though the victims are ants and other insects, for young or sensitive kids they're relatable characters - – living, breathing beings with human voices. There are many deaths: great battles occur along with the aftermath on fields covered with bodies (and include a sad deathbed scene of a well-liked ant soldier). The strutting villain tortures two heroes and threatens to drown the entire ant colony; the ants escape the rushing waters with no time to spare. Other characters are blown to smithereens or turned to ash.

Two couples flirt, fall in love, and kiss. There's some potty language and swearing ('tight-ass,' 'hell,' 'damn,' 'anus,' 'crap') and the ants have a local pub in which they drink an intoxicating beverage. In ANTZ, Woody Allen provides the voice of Z, the movie's hero, and we first see him on the analyst's couch, complaining about his feelings of inadequacy. A worker ant among millions of others, he longs for some individuality. When he meets the ant princess Bala (voice of Sharon Stone), he longs to see her again. So he persuades his friend Weaver (voice of Sylvester Stallone), a soldier ant, to switch places with him. Weaver enjoys being a worker, but Z finds to his horror that he is being sent into battle by the megalomaniacal General Mandible (voice of Gene Hackman).

He is befriended by Barbados (voice of Danny Glover), who is killed, along with all of the other soldiers. Only Z escapes, and it is up to him to rescue the rest of the ant colony from Mandible.

Review: Woody Allen still Woody in 'Antz'

Web posted on: Friday, October 02, 1998 9:53:58 AM

From Reviewer Paul Clinton

(CNN) -- Get out the Raid. The battle of the bugs has begun. The first bug flick to crawl onto the big screen is DreamWorks' 'Antz,' beating Disney's also-animated 'A Bug's Life' to the box office by eight weeks.

If you ever needed proof that all of Hollywood drinks from the same idea pool, the last couple of years have provided ample evidence. We've had battling volcano movies, dueling earth-shattering asteroid movies, and now a double bug invasion.

Both films are about one ant who saves the day---by saving his ant hill from disaster. But there are some major differences here. 'Antz' is only the second film to be entirely done by computer animation. (The first was 'Toy Story.') 'A Bug's Life' is done the old-fashioned way. Also, 'A Bugs Life' will be rated G and aimed directly at kids. The PG-rated 'Antz' is filtered through the sensibilities of Woody Allen, and is more or less an adult comedy from an ant's point of view.

'Antz' is being ballyhooed as a huge breakthrough in computer animation, the first animated film from the newest studio on the block, DreamWorks. And some of the biggest names in Hollywood are making their debut in a non-live action motion picture.

But the real deal? This is a Woody Allen film, plain and simple. Allen has just dragged his neuroses from the concrete canyons of Manhattan to a well-drawn ant hill.

The part of Z the worker ant was written for Allen and it shows. He's the middle child of a family of 5 million, seeing a shrink, and complaining about his father leaving when he was only a little larva. He's also trying to get in touch with his inner maggot.

Z is just not happy with his lot in life as a worker ant; he longs to break away from the crowd. Sharon Stone provides the voice of Princess Bala, who isn't looking forward to her future either. Eventually she'll become queen of the ant hill and be expected to pop out millions of baby ants.

Together they leave the ant hill and seek out a paradise called Insectopia (actually a trash can near a picnic table in a public park). I expect you to die seat of power. But trouble brews and Z is forced to return to the ant hill to save his family. All 5 million of them.

Sylvester Stallone plays Weaver, a soldier ant who is Z's best friend. Gene Hackman is the ambitious Gen. Mandible, who is trying to take over the ant hill and rebuild it in his own image. Anne Bancroft is perfectly cast as the queen ant.

Also providing vocals are Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain as a couple of wasps, as well as John Mahoney, Danny Glover, Jennifer Lopez and Christopher Walken.

'Antz' is basically a straightforward story about individuality versus group conformity. Our hero Z is uncomfortable with the over-regimented world of his fellow ants, and no one does uncomfortable better than Woody Allen.

Overall, 'Antz' provides a nice little message about not being pigeonholed by society, and that no matter what your station in life you can always do better if you believe in yourself. Allen provides plenty of comic relief, and the computer-generated animation is pretty impressive.

This is the season for big movies with grand themes. Can you spell Oscar? But if you're just looking for escapist entertainment with the minimal use of your brain cells 'Antz' could do the trick.

'Antz' is rated PG, mainly due to some adult language, with a running time of 83 minutes.