Well up in Oregon, 800 folks were treated to the first ever screening of ANTZ, as far as I know this is the first test screening for any DreamWorks animation film, so I guess that's it's historical significance. I have received tiny tidbit reviews from 6 other people and they were all very positive, as are the following three reviews. I'm dying to see this one. So read along my friends, I think we have a great one here...
Fresh from a test screening of ANTZ (ok, it was last night, but I needed time to collect my thoughts and sleep, not necessarily in that order) and I wanted to share my reactions with the good AICN folks. First and foremost - I had a great time! This was my first ever test screening, and as such I wasn't sure what to expect. The movie isn't due out for a few months, so I figured it would still be in pretty rough shape, and that was right on target. About 60% (at a guess) was in complete form, but the remainder was either very basic animation (not much detail, just a few characters and little background), or in some cases just the storyboards (this was true of most of the last 10 minutes or so). The voices were all done, so even the parts with storyboards were easy to follow (I think at some points the rough drawings made some of the humorous scenes even funnier). The soundtrack was bits of other movies slapped in there (I recognized ID4, Apollo 13 and First Contact), so it'll be interesting to see what they have in the final version.
So in any case, a rough product, but I really enjoyed it. Woody Allen was a perfect choice for the over-talkative, slightly hyper "Z", our hero, and Gene Hackman did lots of fun scenery chewing (as it were) as the devious General Mandible. Sharon Stone didn't impress me a whole lot in her role as the love interest, Princess Bala, but I'll see if she grows on me in the final version. Also watch out for Christopher Walken, Sylvester Stallone, Danny Glover and Meryl Streep in smaller parts (Walken's ant character had some perfect Walken facial expressions - made me laugh).
The story is pretty straightforward, nothing exceptionally original, but there's plenty of humor and some exciting moments along the way. What was complete of the animation was very impressive, especially the "wide-angle" shots of the whole colony - quite amazing.
All in all, a really fun night out! It should be a really entertaining and enjoyable movie once it's completed. I'm really looking forward to the finished product!
Your faithful servant,
B. Dog
