It feels awfully long ago when computer animated films last generated sincere excitement for my part and rose above their technical brilliance to tell their story well. But the truth is, it was just a couple of years ago, when Pixar and Dreamworks Animation were the main players of the genre. It seemed to be the infallible aspect of film industry in general. But when Disney raised the white flag with their hand-drawn animation films two years ago, it signaled a new era in the animation industry, and perhaps not coincidentally, the demands demands for visually polished 3D animation has us witnessing other aspects, such as character development and storytelling, decline.
I knew right from the start that Warner Bros.' "The Ant Bully" wasn't going to be exactly a picnic. And you know something's wrong about a movie when you have Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Paul Giamatti attached to it yet it can only generate $8 million on its first weekend. To make matters worse, Pixar already has "A Bug's Life" and Dreamworks has "AntZ", which makes "The Ant Bully" a failure in terms of creating enough recognition of its own. Sad to say, this is a pointless animated movie, and it makes me yearn for the yesteryears of animation.
Lucas (voiced by Zach Tyler) is a kid who's been bullied around by other kids in the neighborhood. As a cathartic response to his helplessness against such maltreatment, he regularly floods an anthill with his water gun. Having had enough, one of the members of the ant colony - Zoc (Cage) - produces a magic potion that shrinks Lucas to their size and forces him to learn the ways of the ants. With the guidance of ants Hova (Roberts), Kreela (Regina King), and Fugax (Bruce Campbell), they teach the kid the values of - you know - teamwork, sacrifice, trust and friendship.
It's not so much that "The Ant Bully" is a horrible movie, it's just that it's an uninteresting and tedious one. Yes, the voice actors do their best but their noble work can't save them from director John A. Davis' script that is essentially dead on the spot. Kid has problems, no one can seem to help, he becomes a hero in one way or another, and he sees the world in a different perspective. Sure, it's a nice diversion for kids, but there's nothing much for the other members of the audience.
Visually, the film scores for its vibrantly "cartoonish" look. The characters look alive and the world they inhabit is colorful. The art direction is great in general although the problematic premise has it lacking any remarkable traits in any of its characters. Not one character (neither human or bug) really stands out and gets to be memorable.
"The Ant Bully" is a prime example of how the genre has already wore out its novelty, never mind the occasional flashes of brilliance. Yes, there are characters that have glimpses of creativity, but without much material that allows them to shine through it ain't fun. And while the animation is pretty to look at, it's no big deal considering the rapid advancement of technology and the constant release of newer and more powerful animation softwares.
Either way, it appears the movie-going public has reached a verdict. It seems we've had enough movies about ants.
I knew right from the start that Warner Bros.' "The Ant Bully" wasn't going to be exactly a picnic. And you know something's wrong about a movie when you have Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Paul Giamatti attached to it yet it can only generate $8 million on its first weekend. To make matters worse, Pixar already has "A Bug's Life" and Dreamworks has "AntZ", which makes "The Ant Bully" a failure in terms of creating enough recognition of its own. Sad to say, this is a pointless animated movie, and it makes me yearn for the yesteryears of animation.
Lucas (voiced by Zach Tyler) is a kid who's been bullied around by other kids in the neighborhood. As a cathartic response to his helplessness against such maltreatment, he regularly floods an anthill with his water gun. Having had enough, one of the members of the ant colony - Zoc (Cage) - produces a magic potion that shrinks Lucas to their size and forces him to learn the ways of the ants. With the guidance of ants Hova (Roberts), Kreela (Regina King), and Fugax (Bruce Campbell), they teach the kid the values of - you know - teamwork, sacrifice, trust and friendship.
It's not so much that "The Ant Bully" is a horrible movie, it's just that it's an uninteresting and tedious one. Yes, the voice actors do their best but their noble work can't save them from director John A. Davis' script that is essentially dead on the spot. Kid has problems, no one can seem to help, he becomes a hero in one way or another, and he sees the world in a different perspective. Sure, it's a nice diversion for kids, but there's nothing much for the other members of the audience.
Visually, the film scores for its vibrantly "cartoonish" look. The characters look alive and the world they inhabit is colorful. The art direction is great in general although the problematic premise has it lacking any remarkable traits in any of its characters. Not one character (neither human or bug) really stands out and gets to be memorable.
"The Ant Bully" is a prime example of how the genre has already wore out its novelty, never mind the occasional flashes of brilliance. Yes, there are characters that have glimpses of creativity, but without much material that allows them to shine through it ain't fun. And while the animation is pretty to look at, it's no big deal considering the rapid advancement of technology and the constant release of newer and more powerful animation softwares.
Either way, it appears the movie-going public has reached a verdict. It seems we've had enough movies about ants.