Friday, November 20, 1998
Screen Scene
"A Bug’s Life"
Starring Dave Foley and Kevin Spacey
Directed by John Lasseter
The big question on everyone’s minds now is how "A Bug’s Life"
compares to "Antz", which opened Oct. 2 from Dreamworks Pictures.
Never have two movies been so alike and yet so different. Other
than both being computer-generated movies about insects, the two
films have very little in common.
"Antz" is a more subdued adult feature, more oriented towards
sophisticated verbal humor. "A Bug’s Life" takes full advantage of
the animated medium with the same exaggerated character design and
frenetic action that "Antz" consciously avoided. Although in many
ways a more conventional story geared towards children, "A Bug’s
Life" is nevertheless an engaging, entertaining movie.
Flik (Dave Foley) is a resourceful but naive young ant who only
wants to help, but somehow always manages to screw things up. When
the colony is threatened by a swarm of hungry locusts, Flik proves
his worth by journeying off to the "Big City" in search of help.
Along the way, he enlists the aid of a troupe of misfit circus
bugs, including gluttonous caterpillar Heimlich (Joe Ranft),
neurotic walking stick Slim (David Hyde Pierce) and overly macho
ladybug Frances (Dennis Leary). In the end, Flik saves the day,
earns the colony’s undying gratitude and gets the girl, nervous
Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).
The animation, by computer-animation specialists at Pixar, is
top-notch. Computer animation, although always impressive, often
has difficulty producing convincing organic forms. In "A Bug’s
Life", grass looks like grass, water looks like water, and (most
importantly) dirt looks like dirt.
In addition, the film is full of interesting characters. John
Ratzenberger is just sleazy enough as shifty carnival owner P.T.
Flea. Some of the funniest bits, though, are Michael McShane’s
nonsensical babbling as Tuck and Roll, a pair of Hungarian
pillbugs. The voice talents are all well-cast in their roles, but
it is Kevin Spacey as vicious grasshopper leader Hopper who steals
the show. Both more menacing and more intelligent than the standard
cartoon villain, Hopper’s cool, contained malevolence makes him a
stand-out in the genre.
Apart from several painful puns, the movie’s humor is excellent,
mostly showing typical human situations in an insect world. At one
point, Flik runs into a beetle beggar holding a sign that says
simply "Kid pulled my wings off." The film even drops some
hilarious throw-away gags into the closing credits that are well
worth sticking around to see.
The only complaint is that the love story between Flik and
Princess Atta feels somewhat contrived, almost as if it were tacked
on afterwards as a concession to Disney tradition.
The movie is rather violent by Disney standards (several scenes
may frighten smaller children), though there’s nothing much worse
than you’ll be likely to find in the average Saturday morning
cartoon show. Otherwise, "A Bug’s Life" is a great movie. The story
is quick and involving, the characters are likable and the villains
are really motivated.
Michael Rosen-Molina
"Enemy of the State"
Starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman
Directed by Tony Scott
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer decided to attack the invasion of
privacy issue with a piece more dramatic than action based, a break
from his usual onslaught of violence and mayhem (think "The Rock").
Though this may have challenged his actors and director Tony Scott,
it makes "Enemy of the State" far too self-important and even dull
when compared to the spectacle it could have been.
The story concerns hotshot young lawyer (And what story doesn’t
these days?) Robert Clayton Dean, played with an air of confidence
by Will Smith. Dean, unbeknownst to him, is handed some sensitive
materials which could implicate a rogue NSA agent (Jon Voight) in
the murder of a public official. Thus, the chase begins, with the
NSA using all sorts of modern technology to track down Dean and
retrieve the mysterious package.
The main focus of the story is on the various state-of-the-art
methods used by government agencies like the NSA to track people,
and how in the wrong hands this technology could destroy any
semblance of privacy among citizens.
"Enemy" contains several chase sequences, but none of them are
terribly exciting (and most were done better in other films like
"The Fugitive").
Most glaring, however, is that most of the futuristic
surveillance technology employed in "Enemy of the State" is not
nearly as surprising or innovative as the filmmakers obviously
wanted. For anyone who has been watching technology-based thrillers
in the last 20 years, none of these gizmos will be quite a shocking
as intended.
The biggest hindrance to momentum suffered by "Enemy of the
State" concerns its massive cast. The film is filled out with a
veritable "Who’s Who" of rising film stars, including Jason Lee
("Chasing Amy"), Barry Pepper ("Saving Private Ryan"), Seth Greene
("Austin Powers"), Jamie Kennedy ("Scream") and Jake Busey
("Starship Troopers"). These capable actors are not used well,
however, and most are given characters with fewer than 10 lines.
Thus, the large cast becomes little more than a distraction.
Had the filmmakers focused the story more, given Smith
(undoubtedly a charismatic presence on screen) some more to do and
updated some of the technology, "Enemy of the State" would have
made a fun, fast thriller – instead of the standard, formula-genre
piece like the others opening this Wednesday in theaters.
Lonnie HarrisPixar/Disney
"A Bug’s Life" opens nationwide on Nov. 25.
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