most people fit into two different categories : you either love woody allen , or you hate his guts . my family , for the most part , hates him and his movies . i think he's very funny , but his shtick has gotten forced and contrived over the years . so maybe taking his body away was the best decision any producer could have thought of . unrestrained by physical boundaries , allen's humor comes shining through . those who had problems with his physical appearance will be able to join the rest of us in laughing at allen's intelligent observations of life . those who had problems with his verbal comedy may want to skip this one . in 1995 , a film was introduced to audiences which sparked their imaginations and showed them something they'd never seen before . toy story used state-of-the-art computer technology and presented a world of toys who would come alive when no humans were present . many critics will call that a better film , but i believe they only say that because it was a completely original motion picture . antz , however , has upped the ante considerably . disney's a bug's life isn't due out for another two months , and dreamworks seems to have received the better end of the deal . by beating disney out , they have satisfied the audience's thirst for computer-animated films . but don't let that fool you : disney is definitely not scared . in the past two years , competitions have broken out between studios . in 1997 , it was the volcano duel . in my opinion , dante's peak came out way ahead of its predecessor , both in time and in quality . volcano had an original premise , but destroyed that with some very ridiculous situations . in 1998 , there are twice as many competing films . first was the comet competition , and armageddon blew away it's cheesily dramatic competitor deep impact . but now , it's even more interesting , as one beloved studio ( disney ) goes up against the newcomer ( dreamworks ) . who will prevail ? time will tell , but i'm sure that mr . mouse has nothing to fear . this may sound like i didn't like antz ; on the contrary , i'd put it up there with toy story . but due to it's pg rating , many parents may be put off by some of the dialogue which shouldn't appear in disney's version . some of the dialogue in antz pushes the envelope for a family-oriented film . sexual innuendoes and profanity pop up occasionally , which makes dreamworks' animated feature geared more for an adult crowd . the humor is also written especially for adults , though many kids were laughing in the theater i attended . this is the type of film that should be made for families more often : entertaining for kids and entertaining for parents . antz begins with a hilarious monologue which seems a meld between woody allen's shtick and franz kafka's metamorphosis , the short story of a man who wakes up to discover himself as a bug . z ( allen ) is a troubled ant , believing he was not made to be a worker . " when you're the middle child in a family of five million . . . " he comments about his neglected childhood . one night , z is sitting in a bar with his friend weaver ( sylvester stallone ) , discussing his pathetic place in life . in walks princess bala ( sharon stone ) , whom no one recognizes without a crown . bala asks z is he would like to dance , and they engage in a pulp fiction-esque dance while everyone else is following the leader . after discovering that she is the princess , z falls in love , but there's a problem : bala is getting married to general mandible ( gene hackman ) , a ruthless leader who merely wants to control a better and stronger colony . in order to do that , he must eliminate not only the queen ( anne bancroft ) , but the weakest of the colony , namely the worker ants . but to get rid of the queen , he needs to get rid of the loyal army ants who would be willing to die for her . he and colonel cutter ( christopher walkin ) come up with a plan to send the loyal ants off to battle , where they will surely be killed . the queen is reluctant at first , but decides it is best for the colony . meanwhile , z wants to meet bala again , and he asks weaver , an army ant , to switch places with him . so z gets sent off to battle , but he manages to survive the slaughter by the termites . the battle sequence is absolutely stunning , though you may have flashbacks to starship troopers , which contained a very similar sequence . however , antz and that 1997 film were both in production around the same time , so the similarities are merely coincidence . the second half of the film revolves around z's kidnapping of bala , and their search for a mythical place called insectopia . there , an ant can be his own boss and have all the food he wants . the adventures z and bala get into are surprisingly high in tension , especially one involving a magnifying glass . looming over the targets like the spaceships from independence day ( in fact , i'm just going to assume that the producers referenced id4 intentionally ) . the ants look up in awe , and then a beam of fire blasts into the ground . visually , it's an exciting rush of adrenaline . but don't be fooled . . . little kids shouldn't see this , as they may just try and copy it . after seeing antz , i vowed never to intentionally step on an ant again . hopefully , children will learn that killing ants is rather cruel . as an animated film , antz is probably the best you will find to date . visually , it's as stunning as what dreams may come . the best aspect of animation is the fact that the characters aren't limited by gravity . they can take ridiculous situations and make them seem plausible . one great moment involves a mass of worker ants bunching up to form a wrecking ball . the animation is so perfect that you can virtually see every single ant on the ball . however , the most exhilarating scene involves bala getting stuck to the bottom of a young boy's shoe . it's truly a great example of film making at its finest . with computer technology , the animators have carefully made the ants' faces look similar to the actors providing the voices . the best example would have to be barbatus ( danny glover ) . at one point , you can even see the pores on his face ( although , i doubt ants have pores . . . do they ? ) . barbatus also has a touching but rather gruesome scene as he has his final words with z without a body . young kids may be disturbed by the site of a dismembered head , but a good deal of humor is derived ( more appropriate for adults , of course ) . disney's a bug's life looks good , but i don't know if they will be able to best dreamworks' newest animated feature in terms of animation . if not , then dreamworks will have done something no other studio could do : go head to head with the big mouse , and knock him down ( yes , anastasia was good , but not nearly as good as even the worst of disney ) . vocal talent is always essential to an animated feature , and antz has one of the best line-ups seen since toy story . in fact , it far exceeds that one . woody allen has always been funny , but here he transcends most of what he's done in the past few years . without a body , his comic timing is the most noticeable thing . in fact , i'm pretty sure that the writers let him improvise a lot of his lines . sharon stone as bala shows off some of her comic ability , though for the most part , stone works best as a dramatic actress . sylvester stallone ( teamed up with stone once again ) is beginning to solidify his statement that he wants to be an actor , not a typecast action star . after a snub at the oscars last year , stallone is proving himself as the serious ( or comedic , as illustrated here ) actor that he is . gene hackman is superb as the gruff-talking general , almost doing another take on his crimson tide persona . christopher walkin is probably more noticed by his voice , and so many people will remember him from such hits as batman returns . anne bancroft has a minimal role , but she's effective nonetheless . danny glover has a small role , but he does a very , very good job . dan aykroyd and jane curtin also lend their voices as two lovesick , euro-trash bees--both are very unrecognizable , especially aykroyd . jennifer lopez plays a worker ant who falls in love with weaver , although most people won't recognize her voice either . many people will recognize grant shaud's voice as the foreman . he played miles on the tv show murphy brown . this is definitely a huge cast with some high-profile names , and it will definitely help it's grosses . of course , you can probably tell where a lot of the $60 million budget went to , also . directors eric darnell and lawrence guterman are relative newcomers ( though guterman did direct a 1994 feature , headless ! ) . but both show an incredible talent for this type of a picture . tense at times , and very funny throughout , the two hold this film together like professionals . the screenplay by todd alcott and chris weitz is quite simple in plot , but it contains a lot of subtlety that makes the film more suitable for adults . kids will delight in the animation , while parents can laugh heartily at the humor . most of it will go over young children's heads . does that mean you shouldn't take kids to see it ? not at all . they will have a lot of fun watching this one . what is great is the themes that are given to us . part social commentary , part romance story , and part moral drama , antz gives everyone something to talk about , whether it be the animation , or the discussions of individualism and community . thankfully , it's not subtle in either aspects . antz is rated pg for mild language and some intense action . sometimes the language can be pushing the limits for a family movie , but the violence is what should keep kids at home . the battle scene has ants melting in acid , and bugs being speared to death . and the magnifying scene shows an ant disintegrate in the beam of sunlight . but other than that ( and some sexual innuendos ) , it's a perfect choice for some wholesome fun at the theaters . i doubt many children will understand the sexual innuendos unless they are old enough , but it's still advisable to leave really young children at home . have i confused you enough ? if you do take your kids , i recommend seeing the film with them , because more than likely , you'll enjoy it the most .
