The Animation Studio Dreamworks was a studio made out of revenge, mainly to compete against Disney’s animated feature presentations. After Jeffery Katzenberg left Disney over creative differences with the then CEO of Disney, Micheal Eisner, he went with many other artists and animators to start Dreamworks with the help of well-known filmmakers, such as Steven Spielberg. Their first film would be a CGI animated feature about ants, simply titled Antz. This occurred at the same time and year that Disney’s subsidiary, Pixar, would release A Bug’s Life. Antz was released first and garnered positive reviews at the time. Still, A Bug’s Life would be more fondly remembered and successful at the box office overall. There has been a debate ever since then about which film was better. Was Antz a new classic in the making? Or did Dreamwork’s ambition to triumph over Disney get the better of the studio?
Z (Woody Allen) is a worker ant who is unsatisfied with his life and longs for something different from what his ant government has assigned him to do for the rest of his life. At the bar, he meets an ant woman named Bala (Sharon Stone), the princess next in line for the ant throne. Z and Bala seem to hit it off very well, but they soon part ways, leaving Z alone. Wanting to desperately see her again, Z enlists his soldier friend Weaver (Sylvester Stallone) to trade places with him for a day so he can pose as a soldier and get close to Bala. After taking part in a terrifying war between ants and termites, Z somehow becomes the only survivor of the battle and is brought before the queen and Sergeant Barbatus (Danny Glover). Through some mishaps, Z steals Bala away from Barbatus, and they end up on an adventure. They also find out that Barbatus and his colleagues are up to something that could doom the ant colony as they know it.
The Story has been compared to A Bug’s Life in many ways. The basic idea is the same: it's about a lone Ant who does not fit the mold of what society wants him to be. Ultimately, he changes the ant colony's outlook on life and gains a new love interest. What separates both movies, though, is the way they are presented. Antz goes for a more severe and grim outlook. There is a lot of talk and moments in the film about war and government, which I appreciate to an extent, as it tries to show that animated movies are just as much for adults as they are for kids. The problem is that it wants to be an adult-like story. Still, the writing is too inconsistent, and the movie's tone often switches back and forth between a silly road trip movie and a dark and serious drama. The romantic element is also very unbalanced as sometimes the romance between Z and Bala can be decently done. Then, other times, it can take a left turn to have them bicker all the time without good characterizations to balance them out. Some good morals and ideologies are scattered in this movie, but the writing and pacing can’t support them in a way that benefits the whole flick.
The Characters have good voice talent, but most need more solid characterization and feel like they were made at the last minute instead of being fully fleshed out and memorable. Z, played by Woody Allen, is the best character, not just because he is the main one but because his dilemmas and reasons for seeking change are relatable and sometimes sad. However, as the movie continues, he becomes way too whiny and not as sympathetic as he once seemed at the beginning. Bala, played by Sharon Stone, is a typical romantic female character who does not have many unique traits; instead, she has redundant characteristics that are not executed well and make her bland to me. Sylvester Stallone plays Z’s best friend, Weaver. Stallone isn’t doing a terrible job like Weaver. Sometimes, he can pull off the strong best friend pretty well in his own right, but I just wish he had more unique traits to make him stand out from the crowd. The movie's main antagonist is Staff Sergeant Barbatus, played by Danny Glover. As far as antagonists go, he does a fair job being the bad guy; I’ll even admit that sometimes he can give Hopper from A Bug’s Life a run for his money. Other notable mentions include Christopher Walken as Colonel Cutter and Jeniffer Lopez as Azteca. The voice actors do their hardest to bring their characters to life. The characters themselves, though, needed some fine tuning.
The Animation can sometimes be excused because it’s Dreamworks’s first movie. I admit that the visuals are more ambitious than those in A Bug’s Life. Even with the ambition, some things about the visuals pale in comparison to A Bug’s Life and many other animated flicks in general. Starting with the positives, the size and scope are pretty impressive as ants are small and puny compared to the dangers they face, such as giant humans that can almost step on them, or how the insects such as Termites and Praying Mantisis are portrayed as substantial bloodthirsty monsters. The characters' designs are okay, but credit where credit is due, they look more like actual ants than the ones present in Pixar’s flick. I’ll even admit it's cool when the ants work together to form a wrecking ball and other things to complete specific tasks. Unfortunately, while I appreciate the ambition of the Dreamworks animators at the time, this film seems to lack beauty and color. Now I understand the film wants to be more gritty and dirty compared to the colorful world of A Bug’s Life. Still, even those kinds of movies have some beauty to be desired, even if everything looks grim. It also doesn’t help that the visuals look cheap, which I know was because CGI was still ancient technology in 1998, but even A Bug’s Life looked much more polished than this movie did. I loved the ambition overall, but some things in the visual department could have been given more of a facelift.
The Music is honestly okay. It’s not bad, but it's not great either. Composers John Powel and Harry Gregson-Williams would later score more movies, including many more for the Dreamworks Studio. Some themes are intriguing, but most just fall flat and are not really that memorable. The central theme music of the movie is not bad. But this music just made me long to relisten to the soundtrack for A Bug’s Life Instead.
I don’t like this movie. I won’t act like Pixar’s A Bug’s Life is perfect. Still, it at least had colorful, memorable characters and a better-paced story, even if it was cliched. Antz had a lot going for itself as it wanted to tell a more grim, ambitious, and adult-animated story. I’m not against that, but if the characters and story are messy and not as well thought out as they should have been, then that is a sign that Dreamworks wanted to outdo Disney rather than try to tell a good story on its own. The opening with Z talking to a therapist is a solid start, and the animation is admittedly even more ambitious than A Bug’s Life. Unfortunately, I found the characters forgettable, and the story was trying too hard to be edgy. I’m happy for those who enjoy this movie, but this movie does not hold up for me looking back years later. It's not Dreamworks’s worst, but it's a poor start to their lineup. However, I am thankful that after this, they will try to make bigger and better films than what is shown here.
(Final Grade: C)