______________________________________________________
A
Bug's Life
(By Gerry Wang)
A BUG'S LIFE
(Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus)
by Gerry Wang
_____Remember my review
for ANTZ, a movie similar to A BUG'S LIFE? My main
complaint w/ the former was that it didn't charm me the
way TOY STORY did. I wanted to love the characters and be
blown away by the whole scope of the movie. But w/ ANTZ,
I was disappointed.
_____With A BUG'S LIFE,
I was utterly, completely, and entirely satisfied. I was
charmed. I loved the personality of the characters. The
technology of the computers just blew me away. The story
was well written. The script was fantastic. I laughed
till I cried.
_____A BUG'S LIFE is a
towering masterpiece from the Pixar animation studios led
by John Lasseter. Pixar's accomplishments have never
ceased to amaze me. Keep in mind they also brought you
TOY STORY, and the consistency the studio has shown in
churning out quality animation stamps its place in the
history of cinema as the forerunner of films generated by
solely by the computer.
_____A BUG'S LIFE is
about Flik, voiced by Dave Foley of NEWSRADIO, an
innovative ant in a colony led by the Queen. He likes to
invent stuff, but no one ever takes him seriously. He has
eyes for the Princess, voiced by Julia Louis Dreyfus.
_____One day, as the
ants finish their annual offering of food to the
grasshoppers, Flik screws up and causes the offering to
be destroyed. Of course the grasshoppers are pissed off.
Led by Hopper, voiced menacingly by Kevin Spacey, the
ants are given a second chance to provide the food. Flik
urges the colony to fight for its rights against the
grasshoppers, and sets off to find warriors to aid in his
crusade. But instead he gets a troupe of circus
performing bugs, and the fun starts from there.
_____Characters are the
best part of the movie. Dot, the little itty bitty
princess aunt looks so adorable as she hops up and down
and struggles to fly. Flik's character is the one you
identify with, because he's geeky and needs to prove
himself to everyone. Hopper, the head honcho of the
grasshopper has a evil aura about him that resembles Scar
in THE LION KING.
_____The addition of
the circus bugs is the most outstanding aspect of the
film. There such a diversity. Starting with Francis, the
ladybug who resents being mistaken as a female, to
Heimlich, the fatso German caterpillar, the circus bugs
inject the movie with an upbeat energy full of
personality and little quirky mannerisms. You won't
forget the pill bugs who are Frenchie foreigners. They
are hilarious.
_____There are action
sequences in A BUG'S LIFE that is better than anything
ever done in live-action films. Look for the 2 sequences
involving a bird, and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Thanks to the miracles of computers, we are held
breathless during A BUG'S LIFE's action sequences, and we
gasp for oxygen after laughing our asses off at its
jokes. Truly a fantastic experience.
_____While its target
audience is mainly children, A BUG'S LIFE has something
for everyone. The moral message that comes standard in
such fables, of standing up for yourself and working hard
together as a team is a lesson people of all ages should
learn. This movie is definitely worth your money. $3.75
is a bargain. Watch it twice.
****/4
Chick-o-meter: 4 (Everyone will fall in love with this
film)
*See 9/29/'98 video pick of the week #1 for
scale info
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