A Bug’s Life (1998)
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A Bug’s Life Movie Review
A Bug’s Life is a 1998 animated adventure film directed by John Lasseter. It is Pixar’s second movie and one of their admittedly weaker outings.
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“First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault“
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Flik is an ant who is a misfit and troublemaker. His colony is continually being terrorized by grasshoppers who steal their food. Eventually he goes to find help and bring “warriors” to fight the grasshoppers. The plot is basically an insect retelling of ‘Seven Samurai’ and thus not very original at all. It is also very predictable and familiar in most of its plot points.
Still the film is entertaining and adventurous as well as comedic at times. The highlights include those outtakes in the end which are hilarious and very inventive, never before seeing in animation. I also really liked the action and the dangerous tone in the film with a capable villain and scary predators such as birds.
But I did not like the troupe at all. They in my opinion entirely stalled this film which basically stopped the plot for a while once they were introduced. They were too goofy in my opinion and way too comedic. Certainly not the best sidekicks out there.
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So let’s talk about them individually. Francis is actually terrific as this ladybug who is constantly ridiculed and thought of as female. That was very funny and a clever idea. Heimlich is your typical goofy, stupid sidekick as this fat caterpillar wanting to be a butterfly. He is okay, but would suit a Disney flick much more. Tuck and Roll are fun, but Manny, Slim, Rose and all of the others are so forgettable in my opinion and, needless to say, the film has way too many characters and this group is particularly crowded.
Princess Atta and Flik are boring protagonists and I wanted more romance from the two, but Dot is very likable and endearing. There is no denying who the star of this film is – Hopper. The leader of the grasshopper gang is, along with Lotso from ‘Toy Story 3’, the very best Pixar villain in my opinion as he is immensely menacing, competent and steals the show whenever he is on screen.
He beat up Flik, he is very smart and a great leader and physically and vocally imposing. Kevin Spacey did a terrific job in the role and I have to say that his stupid brother Molt is also phenomenal and their interactions are very amusing. A great dynamic between the two.
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A Bug’s Life features very strong animation for its time, but just like ‘Toy Story’ before it, this animation is also very dated by now. They picked the material very cleverly though as ants and overall insects are much easier to animate than humans and thus the animation is mostly passable for today’s audiences. The character design is much more cartoony and ultimately much better than the one in ‘Antz’. Certainly it isn’t realistic at all, but at least it is cute and the various insect species are very well designed. The character design trumps the background work which of course shows its age.
A Bug’s Life has okay dialogue, but the dialogue in ‘Antz’ is much better and in my opinion that DreamWorks film was overall better done. DreamWorks took a victory over Pixar that time around without a doubt as this movie is never particularly sophisticated or moving as the best Pixar classics are.
The humor is solid and some of it is quite good, but most of it is your typical 90s family flick humor. I found the action very strong and the film is at its best when it portrays action sequences and dangerous scenarios and at its worst when dealing with exposition sequences, time-lapsing scenes as well as the acting troupe characters.
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The score is good and thankfully there were no musical numbers here which was a great choice. The pacing is all over the place and the flick is very weakly structured. In the end, it is one of the weaker films from the studio which is still very solid and borderline good, but far from great and is overall highly forgettable in comparison to the other films.
A Bug’s Life is at its best when it’s dealing with dangerous situations, adventurous elements and action sequences which are stellar. Hopper is the standout part of the film as he is very menacing, highly competent and ultimately the very best Pixar villain alongside Lotso. The film is definitely entertaining and quite solid, but with a familiar storyline, subpar sidekicks and very messy pacing as the plot basically stops for a while when we encounter the Circus Bugs. It is thus one of Pixar’s weaker and more forgettable outings and DreamWorks Animation takes the victory here with ‘Antz’.
