John Perrucci Reviews...A Bugs Life

This article was written by reader and contributor John Perrucci

John Perrucci- Flik is an individual ant and would-be inventor, who lives in an ant colony, led by Princess Atta and her mother, the Queen. Flik is different and always unappreciated because of his problematic inventions. The colony is oppressed by a gang of marauding grasshoppers led by Hopper who arrive every season demanding food from the ants. When the annual offering is inadvertently knocked into a stream by Flik's latest invention, a harvester device, the grasshoppers demand twice as much food as compensation. 

Given a temporary reprieve by the grasshoppers, the ants trick Flik into accepting his plan to recruit "warrior bugs" to fight off the grasshoppers. While Flik actually believes in the plan, the other ants see it as an opportunity to get rid of Flik and save themselves trouble. Making his way to the "big city" (a heap of trash under a trailer), Flik mistakes a group of circus bugs, who have recently been fired by their money-hungry ringmaster, P.T. Flea, for the warrior bugs he seeks. The bugs, in turn, mistake Flik for a talent agent, and agree to travel with him back to his home, at Ant Island.

My favorite character is Flik, because he is a likeable character. My favorite parts, or at less some of them, are when Flik flies through the air on a small piece of dandelion, and when the ants make and use a fake bird to scare the grasshoppers away later on in the film.

The cast brings great life to the characters, with Dave Foley playing Flik, as well as the cast of Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Kevin Spacey, Joe Ranft, and John Ratzenberger.

It is similar to the Dreamsworks film, Antz, and both films's bad guys are voiced by actors who have played Lex Luthor in live action Superman films. Gene Hackman as General Mandible in Antz, and Kevin Spacey as Hopper in a bug's life.
The final product of both films are generally perceived to contrast one another in tone and certain plot points. Antz carries a dark tone, featuring moderate violence and death, as well as social and political satire, geared more towards teenagers and adults, while A Bug's Life is more family-friendly and lighthearted.

Antz was moved from March 1999 to October 1998 to compete with Pixar's release of A Bug's Life.


The movie is has some fun moments, great animation, with some good quotes being heard here and there, and a really good story, which is why I give it 4 stars.