Ten Stars or Less

A Bug’s Life came out 20 years ago and it took me that long to actually sit down and watch it from start to finish. The beginning scared me and I wondered if I could actually finish it. I got through it, and with the exception of the Cars sequels, this film has to be down there on Pixar’s hit list. Considering this was their second release ever, I can see the roots of future animation taking root. The voice cast is pretty good, not Toy Story good, but good enough to get people instead in a story about ants who struggle against grass hoppers. I chuckled a few times, but A Bug’s Life is not one of those movies I’d like to own or watch again. The film gets creativity points for having Flik (Dave Foley) gather up a bunch of circus insects to help defend their turf against the mean grass hoppers led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey). It is rather amazing how much effort probably went into production to bring humans down to soil level. That is a Pixar trademark, they did never do anything half ass and always do whatever it takes to take deep into the world of the characters they bring to life. 4/10