I'm always late to these animated features, and didn't realize that "Antz" and "A Bug's Life" were released within a month or so of each other. If forced to choose between the two, I'd say "A Bug's Life" is the better of the two movies, but both films have a good message at their core. Where "A Bug's Life" instilled the value of hard work and persevering for a common cause, "Antz" appears more ideologically positioned as a statement of individualism versus conformity, and if one were to extend the argument, of free enterprise versus socialism. I don't want to get too heavy in reviewing what's nominally a kid's film, but if youngsters can derive the message of thinking for one's self instead of relying on group-think or surrendering their freedom to a self proclaimed, 'smarter' or 'stronger' authority, then the film will have done it's service. The one thing I've always wondered about with animated pictures is why the film makers call on such heavy duty celebrity talent to make them. The voice actors here included Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, and Anne Bancroft. Anne Bancroft - really!! Except for Woody Allen, I didn't recognize any of the other voice characterizations, and wouldn't know who they were if I hadn't checked the film credits. My point I guess, is that for a kid's movie, what youngster is going to know or care about who's supplying the voices. I can't see how appealing to an adult audience with name actors has anything to do with telling an effective story. And guess what, the picture can be made a whole lot cheaper relying on regular folks with distinctive voices, I mean, there are plenty enough of them around. I've made the same criticism of films like the 'Mummy' series from the 1930's and 40's - why have a name actor like Lon Chaney Jr. portray a character wrapped entirely in yards of cloth? Couldn't anyone do it at half the price?

A great animated film about non conformity and the underdog. A revolutionary kids film!

Like how Pixar started off strong with Toy Story, DreamWorks also has a film that cranked their engine up nicely, its called Antz. It is a film that not only has a great story, animation, and characters, but one that belongs with the legends of animated films. After this, DreamWorks would shortly become Disney's greatest competitor. And this would only be the first of many successes in DreamWorks' lineup. Now let talk about what made this so great. First the story is very realistic. And the way the ants work actually seem like what they would actually be. The ants all look different, making them all easily recognizable. And the animation although dated, looks impressive for a first time animated studio. I'd say the animation is on par with Toy Story. Of course no film is perfect. The negatives are that although the story is realistic it does have many similarities to A Bug's Life. I know the whole story involving Disney and Katzenburg but don't get me started on that. The film did come out before A Bug's Life meaning that maybe A Bug's Life is the least creative. So with that said, Antz is the more original film. There however isn't much else to gripe about and the animation is just a nitpick, in 1998 it does look very impressive. Luckily, unlike Don Bluth, Amblimation, and Fox Animation, DreamWorks managed to stay for a long time to come. Antz helped to kick off one of the best companies working today. Now to grade. Story: B Characters: A- Animation: B- Voice Acting: A Music: A- Overall: A-

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in his filmography in order, I come to 1998's AntzPlot in A Paragraph: Z (Woody Allen) a worker ant, tries to get the attention of Princess Bala (Sharon Stone). He trades positions with his friend Weaver (Sly Stallone) a soldier ant, to see the princess during a parade. Unfortunately war breaks out during the parade, and Z becomes a hero during the battles, and begins to spread the idea of individualism throughout the hive.For the second movie in a row Sly totally steals the movie. Which certainly wasn't always the cast with his movies in the 90's, as he was outshone by his costars on a regular basis. My problems with this movie stems from my dislike of Woody Allen, and his voice irritating me. Sharon Stone is also really bland, and the movie just drags along, unless Sly is on the screen. Along with Sly the movies only other saving graces are Gene Hackman and Christopher Walken. The movie comes alive when those three are there.