Antz

Name: Antz
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Animation, Family
Released: October 2, 1998
Duration: 83 min
Rating: 72
Cast: Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Woody Allen

1998

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 408 Ratings

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8.5

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Antz

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Movie Details & Credits

DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: October 2, 1998 | PG

Starring: Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Woody Allen

Summary: When one ant becomes disenfranchised from the totalitarian work regime of his colony, he adventures off to lands unknown.

Director: Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson

Genre(s): Adventure, Comedy, Animation, Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 83 min

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Critic Reviews

100

David Sterritt

Pure fun. Read full review

David Denby

Antz, with its deadpan witticisms, its heart-stopping shifts of perspective, is completely entertaining, a kids' movie that will leave grown-ups quoting the best lines to one another. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Visually, it's more impressive than Disney's “Toy Story.” Read full review

Walter Addiego

That's not to say the entertaining Antz" was made by Woody, just that it's full of his personality. Read full review

Janelle Brown

Katzenberg may or may not have stolen his idea from Pixar, but it's obvious in the film that he spent significant time at Disney. The plot of Antz is pure Disney pastiche: Read full review

Anthony Lane

The latest showpiece for computer animation, with all the contoured, suspiciously gleaming perfection that this entails. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Brief enough, clocking in at 83 minutes, but its story is too predictable to make an impact even in such a short space. Unlike "Toy Story," the dialogue here, written by Todd Alcott and Chris & Paul Weitz, is pro forma all the way. Read full review

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User Reviews

Jedi_Jettson

Feb 3, 2012

Alright, if you all really think this is not for youngsters, well that depends on what they think. I first saw this when I was 8 and this was the type of animated entertainment of action and violence I looked forward to. Besides, you have to find Antz sense of humor and language entertainingAlright, if you all really think this is not for youngsters, well that depends on what they think. I first saw this when I was 8 and this was the type of animated entertainment of action and violence I looked forward to. Besides, you have to find Antz sense of humor and language entertaining and the story is 83 minutes of amusingly menacing action!… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

MovieMasterEddy

Apr 4, 2016

Close Encounters of the 'Antz' Kind.

While "Babe" made you want to give up bacon, "Antz" will make you reach for the Raid. The first of two computer ant-imated features for fall, this little flick from DreamWorks is beating Disney's "A Bug's Life" to the screen by several weeks.Close Encounters of the 'Antz' Kind.

While "Babe" made you want to give up bacon, "Antz" will make you reach for the Raid.
The first of two computer ant-imated features for fall, this little flick from DreamWorks is beating Disney's "A Bug's Life" to the screen by several weeks.

Although the movies share similar story lines – idiosyncratic ant saves the hill from enemy hordes – Disney's bugs look funnier, funkier and more traditionally cartoonish than the more authentically drawn arthropods of "Antz."

The animation might not have been such a problem, however, if these creepy crawlies had more appealing character traits. Cuddly they aren't. These critters look more like those big-eyed, Gumby-like gray aliens

On the other hand, the anthill itself is a spectacularly animated series of caverns, a subterranean realm humming with industry. The scene, like some aspects of the story, recalls "Metropolis," a social allegory about a tyrannical ruling class and the workers who toil in the totalitarian underground.

In "Antz," the Queen (regally voiced by Anne Bancroft), Princess Bala (voiced by Sharon Stone) and their courtiers lounge about in the upper realms, while the drones, workers and soldiers labor in the tunnels deep below.

It is the Ant Way, and most accept the system, which has served the species so well lo these thousands of years. But not Z (voiced by Woody Allen), the neurotic, nattering, narcissistic exception.

Allen, as an ant in analysis, is frankly more annoying than amusing. Without those owlish eyes so bewildered behind those horn rims, that scrawny body and the rest of the preposterous package, Allen is just another whiner.

But then he hasn't got much to work with in this self-serving, product-plugging wisp of a script. It's surely not aimed at children, given its grotesque battle scenes, which might have been modeled on those between the Nazi youth and outer space bugs in "Starship Troopers."

And an ant blathering on his wee analyst's couch seems equally unlikely to appeal to youngsters who tend to crack up at the gas-passing slapstick of the comic duo in "The Lion King." Hakuna matata.

Sorry, "Antz" has no show-stopping song and dance numbers, no catchy melodies and no love songs either. The score, made up of old standards, does, however, enhance one of the movie's wittier episodes.

It takes place in a blue-collar bar, where ants dance in happy conformity to the strains of "Guantanamera," while that anarchist Z and his partner (Princess Bala in disguise) improvise. Can a workers' uprising be far behind? For whatever ill-conceived reasons, the material is obviously tilted toward grown-ups. But it's hard to believe that adults will be drawn to a cartoon about an ant no matter how remarkable his accomplishments.

Stone brings all the enthusiasm of a guest at a roach motel to the role of Bala, the sort of gal who'd really rather be shopping for a tiara than changing the world. Further, she and Allen aren't quite on the same page. Perhaps Allen's Z would be more interested in a larva than a sophisticated lady bug such as she.

Sylvester Stallone's beefy soldier ant and Jennifer Lopez's gum-popping worker are the most amiable of this all-star ensemble, which also includes Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd as WASPy wasps (har-de-har-har), Danny Glover as an infantryman who takes Z under his wing, and John Mahoney as a drunk who claims to have visited the mythical land of Insectopia.

The real live bugs captured in the French film "Microcosmos" were infinitely more fascinating than these thin constructs. Even the dung beetle earned our respect as he worried his precious pooh ball up and over a twig that for it was a veritable Sequoia log.

Actually, that industrious little fellow is far more heroic than Z, who is not only a slacker at work, but also a coward who takes credit for undeserved bravery. Things like this violate the first commandments of fairy-tale movies: The protagonist must learn a moral lesson in the end.

Perhaps we'll get back on track with "A Bug's Life," since Disney is well aware of the genre's demands and remains unsurpassed in the animated arena. The studio's toonsmiths know that kids want to be scared, but that henchmen must be boobs right out of "101 Dalmatians" and criminal masterminds as ludicrously improbable as Cruella de Vil.

Beyond that, the material better be magical. "Antz" isn't.

Eric Darnell, noted for his commercials, and Tim Johnson, who directed the 1995 Halloween special of "The Simpsons," are short on abracadabra. Their sluggish pacing hardly reflects the hustle and bustle of an anthill.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Jacob

May 24, 2013

Overall I really like Antz. For a first film this is really good. What makes this film stand out is the fact that the film takes its audience seriously and does not dumb itself down for the sake of appealing to kiddies. The film is gritty and has interesting message. Plus, it has likeable,Overall I really like Antz. For a first film this is really good. What makes this film stand out is the fact that the film takes its audience seriously and does not dumb itself down for the sake of appealing to kiddies. The film is gritty and has interesting message. Plus, it has likeable, interesting, and realistic characters who while insects are human in their personality. This film showed the world what Dreamworks could do that Disney and Pixar did not at the time. They were not afraid to make something edgy and was more for kids than adults. This film has great writing and sophistication that puts it above a lot of animated films both at the time and even today, including some of Dreamworks’ recent films. As a result, Antz is a great flick that I highly recommend checking out. As you get older and older you develop a greater appreciation for it and I am definitely going to see it again in the future.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

inaneswine

Nov 14, 2017

Althought Antz is sweet and funny, it unfortunately lacks that depth and remarkable sense of warmth that makes the Pixar films so wonderful and rewatchable.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MinecraftF

Mar 25, 2017

In 1995, the very first computer-animated film came out: Toy Story. It got universal acclaim, and was the highest-grossing film of the year. Worldwide. Then in 1998, there's this. In terms of style, Antz is a huge departure from Toy Story. There is an astounding amount of profanity for a CGIIn 1995, the very first computer-animated film came out: Toy Story. It got universal acclaim, and was the highest-grossing film of the year. Worldwide. Then in 1998, there's this. In terms of style, Antz is a huge departure from Toy Story. There is an astounding amount of profanity for a CGI film, there's a lot of violence, and it is implied that one of the soilder ants r**** another ant (so says imdb). Toy Story is a fun film for the whole family. This is not. This idea is not original. A former Disney employee, during production of A Bug's Life, left and took the story with him. His name was Jeff Katzenburg. I think that's the guy who almost led Toy Story into ruins. See the Black Friday Reel of Toy Story. Then you'll know what I'm talking about . So the guy who I THINK almost made Toy Story a horrible film went to Dreamworks and created "Antz" a more violent, less family-friendly "A Bug's Life" with termites instead of grasshoppers. And I really think kids should not be hearing the swear words said in the movie , especially the b word. Well, at least the producers knew better then to put the f-bomb. There are good things about this movie. It made CGI water possible. And Woody Allen's in it. That's a good thing. And the ants look more realistic than they do in "A Bug's Life". There are several other good things about this movie, but I don't feel like saying them. This movie is uneven yet watchable. Luckily, Dreamworks redeemed itself in 2001, with the hilarious film called "Shrek".… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TiberCromwell50

Nov 23, 2016

In 1995, the very first computer-animated film came out: Toy Story. It got universal acclaim, and was the highest-grossing film of the year. Worldwide. Then in 1998, there's this. In terms of style, Antz is a huge departure from Toy Story. There is an astounding amount of profanity for a CGIIn 1995, the very first computer-animated film came out: Toy Story. It got universal acclaim, and was the highest-grossing film of the year. Worldwide. Then in 1998, there's this. In terms of style, Antz is a huge departure from Toy Story. There is an astounding amount of profanity for a CGI film, there's a lot of violence, and it is implied that one of the soilder ants rages another ant (so says imdb). Toy Story is a fun film for the whole family. This is not. This idea is not original. A former Disney employee, during production of A Bug's Life, left and took the story with him. His name was Jeff Katzenburg. I think that's the guy who almost led Toy Story into ruins. See the Black Friday Reel of Toy Story. Then you'll know what I'm talking about . So the guy who I THINK almost made Toy Story a horrible film went to Dreamworks and created "Antz" a more violent, less family-friendly "A Bug's Life" with termites instead of grasshoppers. And I really think kids should not be hearing the swear words said in the movie , especially the b word. Well, at least the producers knew better then to put the f-bomb. There are good things about this movie. It made CGI water possible. And Woody Allen's in it. That's a good thing. And the ants look more realistic than they do in "A Bug's Life". There are several other good things about this movie, but I don't feel like saying them. This movie is uneven yet watchable. Luckily, Dreamworks redeemed itself in 2001, with the hilarious film called "Shrek".… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TiberScientist

Nov 5, 2016

Antz is a movie that re-defines the word, "suck", for nearly eighty minutes. I watched this movie on DVD (so glad I didn't waste money to see this in the theater) and by the first quote was by a jerk named Zee. I knew this was going to suck. Like how The Wild made Madagascar look bad, AntzAntz is a movie that re-defines the word, "suck", for nearly eighty minutes. I watched this movie on DVD (so glad I didn't waste money to see this in the theater) and by the first quote was by a jerk named Zee. I knew this was going to suck. Like how The Wild made Madagascar look bad, Antz makes A Bug's Life look bad. EXTREMELY BAD!! I don't know how this happened but a few weeks ago, I felt like watching it again. But then the DVD was severely scratched. SO HAPPY! The movie offers no heart and the humor is so dry and bad. Even the voice acting is bad! This marks as the worst DreamWorks animated film I ever saw. Rent Shrek, Sinbad, El Dorado, Shark Tale or Spirit instead of this.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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32	#32 Best Movie of 1998
16	#16 Most Discussed Movie of 1998
20	#20 Most Shared Movie of 1998