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Starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Lopez, Anne Bancroft, Gene
Hackman, Christopher Walken, Danny Glover, Grant Shaud, Dan Ackroyd, Jane Curtin. Written by
Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz. Directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson.
Z (Woody) is a worker ant disillusioned about the mindless, repetitive work he and every one of the several million other ants in his underground colony are required to perform each day. He is also ticked off about the required conformity, the selfless devotion required to meet the goals of the colony. But the rest of the ants don't really know of any other way of life, and are happy in thinking the world revolves around their colony, such as Z's fiesty, enthusiastic working companion Azteca (Lopez). As baby ants are born, they are immediately segregated into worker (lower class) and soldier (elite) ants, and their lot in life is immediately sealed. The Queen (Bancroft) is a somewhat benevolent leader, but the General Matambie (Hackman) and his toadie Colonel Cutter (Walken) are fascist wannabe's with a sinister plan for domination of the colony. One day the Princess (Stone) goes to the worker bar for some excitement, and meets Z because he's the only ant not dancing in unison with the other ants. Z is smitten with the princess, and makes a deal with his brawny soldier ant friend (Stallone) to switch places during a military march to get closer to the princess. But as luck would have it, Z's platoon is sent into war against the neighbouring termites. Z with the help of a brave and loyal soldier ant (Glover) is the only ant to survive the carnage and he returns home a hero. Through a series of events, Z and the princess escape the colony, find Insectopia, and then return to meet their destiny. Rather than a childish little cartoon, Antz is an adult story dealing with the alienation of one being existing among millions around him, and the dangers of conformity, where ones contribution to the collective around him is the highest form of achievement. The script is quite humourous, including Woody Allen's funniest role in a while. Reportedly, Allen improvised much of his dialogue, and it nicely parodies the self-absorbed, neurotic character Allen personifies. The movie opens with Z on a couch talking to a psychiatrist questioning the meaning of his life, and the stifling conformity his society demands. When Z says he feels insignificant, his psychiatrist says he's reached a breakthrough because he is insignificant, and he should accept it. Other characters adopt their screen personas to humourous effect, including Stallone's strong but decent soldier and Hackman's power mad general. The animation, by Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio, is often spectacular. The 3-D like shots of the ants moving about their gigantic colony have a Metropolis, Modern Times cog-in-a-wheel look. The ant movement is quite fluid by animation standards, and the look of the film meets or exceeds Disney standards. In one scene, the ants form a wrecking ball to break some rock, and the effect is quite real. The ants themselves are given faces which nicely mirror the actors that play them. Unfortunately, the film tails off a bit by the end into a Hollywood raw-raw hero-saves-the-day ending, but aside from that, Antz is a surprisingly imaginative and thoughtful film that both kids and their parental units will enjoy.  
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