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Fortunately, the self-analysis is kept to a minimum - albeit
with a very funny scene of him talking to his shrink about
being a nonentity - and a stellar voice-over cast adds breadth,
depth and colour to the show.
How about this for some of the line-up. Gene Hackman, Anne
Bancroft, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken,
Danny Glover, Dan Aykroyd and … (mumble) … woodyallen.
Antz is all about one poor downtrodden little ant
called Z (guess who voices him?) who thinks the world is against
him, he's just a face in the crowd and no one cares (easy
really!).
Together with his strongman buddy, Weaver, he meets and
falls for the ant princess (Stone) and they uncover a plot
by the evil General Mandible (Hackman) to take over the colony.
The storyline in Antz is terrific and the scripting
brilliant. There are so many funny one-liners and witty references
to a host of issues that you have to take your hat off to
those who put fingers to keyboard.
The characters are excellent and either ones you like (yaaaay)
or those you hate (boooo) in almost pantomime/B-grade movie
fashion.
But, the real star of Antz is the stunningly stunning
animation.
Computer generated, the characters have a truly sensational
range of movements and the changes of facial expressions -
if you forget the story and really look critically at them
- are almost unbelievable.
Whether in close up, or on a wide - ants' nest scale - you
will truly be amazed at the quality of the visuals.
These have been beautifully transferred on to DVD and give
you a huge amount of detail in an almost-perfect image.
Sound-wise, Antz is even better with excellent clarity,
atmosphere and directional sound.
Without putting too fine a point on it - if I were Woody
Allen's size and could walk upright into an ants' nest - this
is what I would be expecting to hear.
Brilliant fun for children and adults alike.
Conclusion: Movie 90%, Extras 80%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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