This is the next movie that's coming out that I'm dying to see. I've had the shot of Princess Bala parting two blades of grass as my background for months, until that cool Lord of the Rings pic I put up today. But anyway... here's two reviews. The first one is fairly spoiler free, but the second one is a complete spoiler review, I do NOT recommend reading it til after you've seen the film. Afterall it's just a couple of weeks away! Hold off, you can do it, I have faith in ya!!!
I just saw a test-screening for ANTZ up in the bay area. It was a smallish Theater, mainly attended by industry types and members of the local film society. Two kids (the boy about 9, the girl about 6) sat behind me and I took special note of how they reacted to the movie - did they laugh alot? Did they get sad at the emotional parts? Would they see it again?
First off, it's a "small" movie. Sorry about the pun, but it's warranted. It's less than 90 minutes, probably minus the credits, less than eighty minutes, so it feels, well, a bit lightweight. They didn't show the end credits in this cut, so I was unable to find out who did what in terms of writing, music etc. I imagine, they'll be some sort of slide show, detailing the humorous postscript of the story. They mentioned that the music was not completed, but it seemed complete to me. Perhaps there will be a musical number put in somewhere.
the voice talent is impressive: Woody Allen, Jennifer Lopez, Dan Akroyd, Jane Curtain, Sylvester Stallone, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken (!) and a lot of others I can't recall. They have fun with the voices, but don't really take chances - the talent is used as they've always been used. Hackman revives his Crimson Tide Commander gone amuck, Walken is a creep, Stallone is the he-man lug (making a genuinely good career move here, did he fire his agent?), and Woody is Woody: schtick, schtick, schtick.
The animation is top notch. I don't know who's responsible, since there weren't any credits, but they give Disney a run for their money. The ant colony appears huge and complex. The characters move smoothly and have their own, individual ways of moving. The ant crowds are particulary impressive. There's a scene shown on the T.V. ads, where Woody-Ant and Jennifer-Ant are riding on a shoe - a "moving" experience, especially when seen on the big screen. The animators also take into account that the ant timeline moves faster than ours, so the walking legs seem to move slowly. There's a well done battle that reminded me of Starship Trooper, ALOT.
The filmmakers also brought up the topic of individualism vs. working as a team, and they play around with that fairly well, making humorous refences to labor movements, politics and the military mentality.
The kids enjoyed it. Giving it an "11". I didn't notice them laughing terribly loud, nor crying when it came to the sad parts. I think they where probably just entranced by the whole "cuteness" of the ANTZ, which will probably sell little ANTZ toys left and right: Dreamworks' first line of successful merchandise.
How did the adults react? I think, much like myself: it is a clever, little movie. Woody's schtick is great and all the characters are entertaining, but there's no weirdness, nothing that really distiguishes it from being just another (well done) animated tale. Toy Story had those Martians. In this movie, all of the characters are (well-done, clever) stereotypes and the plot moves along, throwing no great curves.
The bottom line: it looks like Dreamworks will have pulled another Deep Impact here. They beat Armaggeddon (check that spelling, aye) to the punch and managed to pull in decent crowds and they're going to release ANTZ at least a month before A Bug's Life will come out. Which is the better of the movies? Who know's? I haven't seen frame one of A Bug's Life and ANTz is pretty well done.
(A side note for folks who take their entymology seriously: Yeah, the bugs all have pearly white teeth. And yeah, Woody the worker-ant seems to really think he's "got a chance" with the Ant-Princess, dispite the fact that he has no reproductive organs. Poetic license, kids.)
call me Ishamael, no wait, call me Patches the Clown
Now below is the COMPLETE SPOILER REVIEW... LEAVE NOW!!!
Well Harry, I'm Back...I first brought you info from the PRINCE OF EGYPT- Wal-Mart screening and now have just come from the Antz screening here in Dallas. Damn Dreamworks has done it again...or should I say that PID did it...DreamWorks is Just one of the busiest Production Companies in the business today.
My RFTV classes were invited to a special screening for Antz at the Cinemark 17 in Dallas. It was held this evening at 7:30. Man I was so psyched about this...I arrive extra early and sat around in one of Cinemarks Goddy Theaters. Around 7:00 my Professor arrives with the tickets and we were set to go. Then at about 7:30 the DreamWorks Rep came into the theater and gave a small speech...blah,blah(music and titling not finished)yada-yada-yada. So then the film starts...The graphics were awesome, the animated lighting was pretty cool too, the antz lips were too human though, but you could actually read the words coming from their mouth which was kinda cool..but yet to lifelike. The story was decent...I do believe that their should have been a bit more story development and more action sequences. All in all this movie was entertaining...although I did miss a few bits of dialogue because of the idiots next to me, who were just talking and heckling so much that I finally moved. GOOD NEWS: THIS IS NOT A ANIMATED MUSICAL**** Well there is a summation of non-spoiler news...Now For The Spoilers:
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Well Here we go...it starts out with an Ant named Z, who is complexed with being an ordinary that is a WORKER. He is constantly complaining to Weaver his SOLDIER friend, about how he will never find the right person and how he is so insignificant in the colony of millions. At the bar while Z and Weaver are talking...an ant tells Z that the best place of an insect to live on his own his INSECT-Topia, a bug heavan on earth. But that Ant is drug away by Soldiers and Z and Weaver think he is an crazed idiot. Weaver leaves Z to go dancing...soon Princess Bala who is not to associate with Workers sneaks down to the bar and asks Z to dance...he immediately falls in love. They start dancing, and while everyone is line dancing, they begin to be somewhat original and start doing the "Batman" and the "MoonWalk" but then a soldier gets on to Z for dancing that way and Z shys away but the Princess for him to stand up for himself, so he does and the soldier goes to hit Z but Weaver steps in and a huge fight breaks out between everyone...and the Princess' helpers guide her out and Z finds out that she is the Princess..and she says she cant ever see him again.
meanwhile the Ant General is staging an attack against the termites...basically to kill all of the queens loyal soldiers because he has a plan of his own with his helper, Cutter. Z finds a way to see the princess by posing as weaver when the soldiers go for review underneath the queen and princess. But the soldiers were ordered to war and he was whisked away to battle...this is a very cool action sequence between the termites and Antz that should have been a bit longer...it did remind me a bit of the battle sequences in StarShip Troopers. So needless to say...all the termites were killed and all of the antz except for Z who was hidden away. When he returns to the colony he was regarded as a hero by everyone except the general. He goes before the queen and princess and the princess asked why a worker was a soldier and said she remembered him from bar, the General(who is engaged to the Princess) becomes enraged that a worker danced with his fiancée. So soldiers go to arrest Z but he attempts to kidnap Bala but she is a fighter and fights back...they then fall into a trash chute that wisps them out of the colony and the soldiers go after them and then catch up with them until a human with a magnifying glass comes to look at the antz and burns the soldiers up and Bala and Z run for their lives and come to a lake. Bala his angry at Z and wants nothing to do with him...he wants to go across the lake to Insect-topia and she know she cant make it back to the colony alone so she goes. So they cross the lake and came to a Picnic Basket and come to two wasps, who regard them as Euro_Trash, Z goes to eat a sandwich but he couldn't get through the "force field" of plastic. Then a fly swatter comes crashing down, Bala and Z were able to miss it though the cracks but the female wasp wasn't. And just to make matters worse...a shoe somes crashing down on the two ants, but Bala got stick to the gum on the bottom and Z grabs on the shoelace to go and save her but gets stuck as well and then the human finally scrapes off the gum with a coin...then the two were just about ready to go when they find the TRUE Insect-topia, A Trash Can....Meanwhile the General and Cutter are beating Weaver to tell where Z is and finally Weaver tells them after they threaten to kill his girlfriend. So Cutter goes after Z and Bala with orders to kill Z. So meanwhile Z and Bala are eating and drinking their hearts content...and then they are sitting at a fire with other insects...Bala and Z are really falling for each other now...the insects ask Z to fetch wood for fire when Cutter arrives and takes Bala, she says that Z is dead so they head to the colony, of course Z goes after her. He sneaks back into the colony and breaks into the room where the General as her locked up...the two of them discovers the General's plans to drown all the worker antz including the queen so that his soldiers and he would be in control...so Z and bala go to worn the others, but they were all trapped, so Z devises a way for them to form an ant ladder and bust out of the colony, meanwhile above ground all the soldiers along with the General and cutter are standing around...then Z's hand comes from the ground and all the Antz are trying to get out and the General goes to push them down, but Cutter pushes him down and then he Goes after Cutter but Z gets up an pushes Cutter away and the General falls down the hole to his death, and Cutter has all the Soldiers pull up all the other Antz from the flooding tunnel...so Z becomes the hero yada,yada,yada.
THE END
