Antz

Antz

Woody Allen as a worker ant with an inferiority complex? Sylvester Stallone as an affable soldier ant who discovers that digging tunnels is cool? The animation playground we all knew so well is turning into a theme park full of in-jokes for grownups. Antz explores age-old topics (one person--err, insect--can make a difference, individuality and social responsibility must exist side by side, war is hell) with comic asides and Woody Allen's funniest quips this side of PG (adults will chuckle at the socialist slogans bandied about as he campaigns for workers' rights). Sharon Stone voices the rebellious princess with a fun-loving streak that doesn't quite overcome her royal bearing and court training, but she can learn. Gene Hackman is all teeth (ants have teeth?) and menacing grins as the Army general plotting insect-icide. This bug's-eye view of life on Earth gives Allen's neurotic nonconformist an epic adventure of microscopic proportions: a devastating war with a termite colony, an odyssey to the fabled land of plenty (a picnic ground), and a race to save his fellow workers from certain death. Other voices include Anne Bancroft as the Queen, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and John Mahoney. The computer animation isn't exactly realistic but feels as solid and contoured as puppet animation with the smoothness and slickness of traditional cel cartoons, and the character designs and animation offer a marvelous range of expressions. The PG rating includes a gritty battle sequence that may frighten youngsters. --Sean Axmaker

Production: Dreamworks
  Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 13 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.6
Metacritic:
72
Rotten Tomatoes:
96%
PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Year:
1998
83
Website
8,468 Views
Every ant has his day.
Every ant runs the colony.
See the world from a whole new perspective.
Actual size of the next really big movie star.
Antz iz coming 1-6-98.
"The hero." (Z tagline)
"The princess." (Bala tagline)
"Best friend." (Weaver tagline)
"The general." (Mandible tagline)

[Z and Bala both sigh when they escape from the magnifying glass, and hide in the "wilderness"]

Z:
Oh, don't worry. I'm okay.

Bala:
You?! You're okay?! Hey, who cares about you?! I almost died here!

Z:
Will you please calm down? You're not going to let a little near-death experience ruin your mood, are you?

Bala:
Hey, this is not a mood. Okay? You're not listening to me. Where am I?

[The praying mantis snores soundly, as the birds chirp in the background]

Bala:
Look, what's-your-name. Just climb up that tree, and find out where I am.

Z:
Look, th-the trick is not to panic. You know, h-h-he w-who panics is lost. Aw... What am I saying? I mean, we are lost. [he climbs up a stem of a thistle plant, but it droops over downwards towards Bala] Whoa! Whoa!

Bala:
[she gasps at Z]

Z:
[he grins and chuckles sarcastically at Bala, but the thistle part of the plant breaks off of the thistle plant, and falls to the ground, with Z holding on to it] Ow!

Bala:
[to the audience] I've been kidnapped by the village idiot.

Z:
Who's the bigger idiot? [he gets up, as he plucks the thistle thorns off of his body] The idiot, or the idiot who gets kidnapped by the idiot?

Bala:
What'd you do? Talk those termites to death? I can't believe you tried to pass yourself off as a soldier. Why are you stalking me? Don't you realize that I'm...out of your league?

Z:
You're the one who was cruising the worker bar looking for a little action! And you just happened to find it--the swarthy, earthy, sensual worker.

Bala:
Please. I was slumming it. Don't you get it? I chose you because you were the most pathetic little bug in the joint.

Z:
You know, I was gonna let you become part of my most erotic fantasies. But now, you can just forget that! Write it off, you know? I-I guess what you prefer is Old Blood and Guts! This guy's idea of a romantic night out is two seats at a public execution! Boy. You really chose the right husband. [he climbs up a spiked stem of a rose]

Bala:
For your information, the General and I are deeply, deeply in...engaged! You come right back down here this instant! We are marching straight back to the colony, so that I can go straight back to the palace, and tell my mother...

Z:
[he moves some of the rose's leaves out of his way with his hand, and sees the "monolith" (a drinking fountain) in the distance, the first of the series of landmarks on the way to Insectopia that Grebs told him about] The monolith!

Bala:
...and you can go back to your stupid little buggy bar!

Z:
Absolutely. Wonderful. [he climbs back down the rose's spiked stem towards Bala, who is standing on the ground] That's an appealing offer. But, considering the options, you go back. Okay? 'Cause I'm going to Insectopia.

Bala:
Oh, come on! Insectopia? You're crazier than I thought.

Z:
Yeah? Well, I happen to have it on a very reliable source. [he clears his throat] Or... Or should I say, a drunk, raving source? But the point is, I'm convinced the place definitely exists! [he heads on towards the monolith]

Bala:
Stop! I order you to stop, worker!

Z:
Hey! I got a name, okay?! It's Z! And out here, you can't order me around! [he continues walking on]

Bala:
All right! Fine! No problem! Grr! [Bala goes the opposite direction of Z, but suddenly, the ground underneath her starts to shake and rise, and she finds herself on the back of the praying mantis, who turns and gnashes its jaws at her. Bala gasps, and then runs after Z in terror] Worker! Worker, where are you? Z? Z, wait for me!

[Z and Bala sit with some other bugs around a campfire in Insectopia]

Ladybug:
[tasting a brown lump] This stuff tastes like crap.

Fly:
Really? Let me try some. [tastes it] Hey, it is crap! Not bad. [continues eating] Somebody needs to feed that fire.

Mosquito:
Dude, I did it last time.

Fly:
Well, I'm not gonna get it. It's not my job.

Ladybug:
What about the new guy? He hasn't contributed yet.

[They observe Z and Bala talking by themselves]

Z:
[about Barbatus] And... you know, he just died in my arms like that. I... You know, I don't think he ever once, in his life, made his own choice.

Bala:
[moved and saddened] I never knew it was like that. I mean, up in the palace... Well, I guess we just let the General make all the decisions.

Z:
Let me ask you something - what made you come to the bar that night?

Bala :
I guess I was looking for a little trouble.

Z:
Well, trouble's my middle name. Actually, my middle name is Marion, but, uh, I don't want you spreading that around.

Bala:
[chuckles] You're pretty strange. You do know that, don't you?

Z:
Well, [clears throat] "strange" is... not exactly the word I would use, you know--

Bala:
[smiling] I like it. You're not like anyone else.

Z:
[stammering] Actually, now that you mention it, I... there is a certain strangeness to me. I mean, it's a... you know, kind of a bizarre quality. Some have said "freak". But it's, uh, you know, complimentary.

[Bala keeps smiling, leaning towards him, and they are about to kiss]

Fly:
Hey, new guy! We need more wood.

[Bala shrugs disappointedly]

Z:
I'll be right back. Just hold that thought - whatever... whatever it is you were thinking. [to the other bugs, as he leaves] Hey, you ever wonder why they call you guys "pests"?

Mosquito:
What if, like, we're just these tiny things, and we're just, like, part of this whole other huge universe that's, like, so big we don't even know it exists?

Ladybug:
[chuckles] Man, that is so deep.

Z:
All my life, I've lived and worked in the big city, which now that I think of it, is kind of a problem since I always feel uncomfortable around crowds. I mean it, I-I have this fear of enclosed spaces. I-I-I, everything makes me feel trapped all the time. You know, I always tell myself, there's gotta be something better out there, but maybe I think too much. I-I-I think everything must go back to the fact that I had a very anxious childhood. You know, my, my mother never had time for me. You know, when you're - when you're the middle child in a family of five million, you don't get any attention. I mean, how's it possible? And I've always had these, these abandonment issues, which plagued me. My father was basically a drone like I've said, and, you know, the guy flew away when I was just a larva. And my job, don't get me started on, 'cause it really annoys me. I was not cut out to be a worker, I'll tell you right now. I-I-I feel physically inadequate. I, I, my whole life I've never, I've never been able to lift more than ten times my own body weight, and, and when you get down to it, handling dirt is, you know, ewwww, is not my idea of a rewarding career. It's this whole gung-ho super-organism thing that, that, that I - you know, I can't get, I try but I can't get it. I mean, you know what is it, I'm supposed to do everything for the colony, and, and what about my needs? What about me? I mean, I gotta believe there's someplace out there that's better than this! Otherwise, I'll just curl up in a larval position and weep! The whole system makes me feel - insignificant!


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