Date: Fri 11-Dec-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Bug's-Life-Spacey-Leary-Foley

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING: Take Your Pick: Bugs Or Antz

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Two heads may be better than one, but rarely are Hollywood head honchos onto a

good thing when two competing studios trot out similar films. Wyatt Earp or

Tombstone ? Dante's Peak or Volcano ? Deep Impact or Armageddon? Pre or

Without Limits (two films on runner Steve Prefontaine -- bet you didn't know

there was even one). None are exactly a debate over Citizen Kane or

Casablanca. Well, the holiday season brings another two-fer: Dreamworks' Antz,

released in October and already the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film;

and A Bug's Life, the Mouse House's own flick on the insect kingdom. Which is

better? The good news for audiences is although the films are similarly

themed, their differences are distinct enough to warrant a healthy argument

for either entry.

Antz , a s previously reviewed in this column, is more talky and aimed at

adults than the typical animated film, whereas A Bug's Life, now playing as

the country's top film for the past three weeks, is a more frenetically paced,

kid-appropriate offering that is one of the most splendidly colorful, visually

stunning movies of the year. Director John Lasseter and the folks at Pixar --

the crew responsible for the computer-animated joy that is Toy Story -- have

given us a worthy -- if not quite as charming -- follow-up that puts an even

greater emphasis on the inventive possibilities of technology when put in the

hands of these imaginative wizards. From the opening frames of the film, which

sweep into the miniature world of the arthropods, to the closing moments of

the movie, the creative minds at Pixar work overtime to bring us entertainment

overload. (Reviewer's note: Don't leave the film early -- those who stay to

watch the credits will be rewarded with yet another evidence of the producers'

cleverness.)

A colony of ants is being afflicted by a group of grasshoppers who demand an

offering of food to appease their appetites and keep them from further

terrorizing the ant populace. After an accident causes all the collected

bounty to be spilled into the bottom of a puddle (which might as well be the

middle of the Atlantic), Hopper (voiced magnificently by Kevin Spacey), the

nasty and intimidating leader of the oppressing insects, demands that a double

quota of the colony's food be waiting when he and his buddies return at the

end of the season. Ne'er-do-well Flik (Dave Foley), the bumbling but

well-intentioned ant who caused the mishap, decides to save the colony by

venturing out beyond the "island" to get help and bring back warriors (i.e.,

bigger bugs) to defeat the grasshoppers when they return.

A Bug's Life is at first a bit intimidating, not because of a sluggish start,

but because of its brisk pace. Audiences may be a bit slow to warm to it

because it seems to quicken at every turn and allow few moments for us to

digest its myriad of seemingly indistinct characters. This is particularly

true when Flik travels to the city to find his warriors (actually a circus

troupe made up of a motley crew of misfits) when the film throws gag after gag

at us, many of which are hilarious but leave us little time to breathe. It

becomes apparent that A Bug's Life is much more exhilaratingly paced than

Antz, yet much less personality driven (Woody Allen, Sylvester Stallone and

Gene Hackman mean more to Antz than Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Denis

Leary do to A Bug's Life ). However, characters begin to take shape as the

movie progresses, and the flow of the film overall becomes more fluid and

facile in the superior and very exciting second half.

A Bug's Life is rated G and is suitable for the whole family. By the end, it

falls short -- but not by far -- of the brilliance of Toy Story , but is a

worthy successor whose abundant, rapid-fire visual gags merit more than one

viewing.