Box Office Movie

June 3, 2007



A BUG’S LIFE

Filed under: Kids/Family, Animation

Voices by Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Hyde Pierce, Denis Leary and Phyllis Diller. Directed by John Lasseter. Written by Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery & Bob Shaw. Produced by Darla K. Anderson and Kevin Reher. A Buena Vista release. Animated. Rated G. Running time: 95 min
A handful of cursory similarities to Dreamorks’ "Antz" notwithstanding, Disney’s long-awaited "A Bug’s Life" emerges as the clear winner of the computer-generated insect competition. Funnier, flashier, more colorful and imaginative, better animated and, most importantly, better written, this second collaboration from Disney and Bay Area-based animation studio Pixar is a festive delight sure to please adults and children of all ages.
   Like the first Disney/Pixar effort, "Toy Story," "A Bug’s Life" succeeds by creating a breathtakingly comprehensive world in miniature and imposing upon it a meticulously well-scripted concept. The starting point here is a small ant colony that has been virtually enslaved by the tyranny of a grasshopper gang led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey), an egomaniac who demands that the ants spend their free time gathering food for the grasshoppers to eat during their frequent stopovers. Despite outnumbering the grasshoppers, most of the antsnever question the relationship between nature’s creations. Flik (Dave Foley), however, questions everything. Deeply individualistic, inventive and clever, Flik is forever urging the rest of the ants to think progressively, with overzealous admonishments that serve to annoy more than inspire.
   When Flik suggests that the colony seek out the aid of "warrior bugs" to help defend against the grasshoppers, skeptical colonists instead see a chance to rid themselves of Flik once and for all, sending the adventurous ant to accomplish the task himself. Only when Flik returns with said warrior bugs does the colony begin to see him for the courageous visionary he really is. There’s just one remaining hitch: the bugs that Flik has enlisted, unbeknownst to him, aren’t really warrior bugs, but circus bugs who have accompanied him on the belief that their task is to entertain rather than fight.

   As he did with "Toy Story," director John Lassiter brilliantly exploits the material for both laughs and pathos, while pushing the technological parameters of computer animation even beyond the already impressive feat of "Toy Story." Similarities with "Antz," of course, are certain to plague the film to a small degree: Both films deal with individualistic misfit ants whose courage in seeking the experience of the outside world enables them to save the colony and win the affections of the colony’s princess (voiced here by Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who in the process is able to ascend nobly to the throne of her mother, the Queen (Phyllis Diller). The particulars of the two films, however, are so radically different as to be beyond comparison. Whereas "Antz" centers on the political machinations of the ant colony, "A Bug’s Life" casts a wider focus on the world of all insects—a wiser and more interesting choice. Minus "Antz’s" occasionally raw humor, "A Bug’s Life" is also better suited to family viewing, with its splendid cast of bizarre and charming bugs perfectly pitched to capitalize on a holiday marketing bonanza.



Shrek the Third (2007)

Filed under: Kids/Family, Animation

‘Ogre’ the hill: It’s the croaking Frog King Harold (John Cleese) who unwittingly provides the metaphor for the state of this fairytale franchise…
 

Distributor: Paramount/DreamWorks
Voices: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Justin Timberlake, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, John Krasinski and Ian McShane
Director: Chris Miller
Screenwriters: Jeffrey Price & Peter S. Seaman and Chris Miller & Aron Warner
Producer: Aron Warner
Genre: Animated family comedy
Rating: PG for some crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action
Running time: 93 min.
Release date: May 18, 2007
It’s the croaking Frog King Harold (John Cleese) who unwittingly provides the metaphor for the state of this fairytale franchise with a drawn-out death scene that’s kind of funny at first but then drags on way too long. That a chorus of Harold’s fellow frogs sings Paul McCartney’s 1973 single “Live and Let Die,” of all things, at his funeral only confirms that there’s not much here for the kids who’ll drag their parents to the third volume of this ogre-the-hill storybook series.

Almost all of the central themes—and a majority of the jokes—here are strictly for adults, perhaps none more so than the not-so-jolly green giant Shrek’s (Mike Myers) fear of fatherhood, made manifest in a not-so-jolly nightmare in which his swamp shack is infested with infants. That formerly funny sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy) sings Harry Chapin’s 1974 hit “Cat’s in the Cradle” to Shrek after finding out Fiona (Cameron Diaz) is pregnant doesn’t do much to make this stuff any more relevant to children.

Speaking of fathers, it’s the death of Fiona’s that propels the plot of Shrek the Third. After Harold hops off to the great lily pad in the sky, the crown rests uneasily on the great green head of Shrek, who will have to abdicate the top spot in his beloved swamp in order to reign over Far, Far Away unless he can convince Fiona’s distant cousin Arthur “Artie” Pendragon (Justin Timberlake) to rule in his stead.

When Shrek sails off to abduct Artie, it’s up to Fiona and a band of plucky princesses voiced by comedians Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Amy Sedaris to fend off a coup d’etat by Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) in one of the few sequences in this sequel that reminds us of the sheer fun this franchise used to produce by fracturing fairytales.

Not to say that Shrek the Third is going to be the last in his line. Even though this is Far, Far Away from the best of the bunch, there are just enough bright bits like Eric Idle as a hippy-trippy Merlin in Birkenstocks and socks to guarantee that this one will—like its predecessors—be a great green monster at the box office.



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