A small boy gets to know what it’s like to really be small in the animated feature, THE ANT BULLY. Lucas, who’s always been picked on by the bullies because of his small size, takes his frustrations out on an ant hill in his front yard. He constantly dismantles the hill with his super-soaker, and the ants have had enough. Zoc, an aspiring ant innovator voiced by Nicolas Cage, has been working on a chemical breakthrough that will reduce the size of human beings. Lucas is Zoc’s first victim.
THE ANT BULLY treads over the same territory that its insect predecessor ANTZ did eight years ago, but lacks the charm, humor and well-integrated message that the Dreamworks picture did. This underground go-around does introduce a human into the equation, enabling the ants to depart from their dirt haven, but their trek into a human’s home is nothing more than a poor retread of HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS! The talented voice cast has a hard time leaving their mark, due in large part to the lackluster personalities and make-up of the ants. A cast featuring Cage, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Paul Giamatti bring little life to their voice work, while writer-director John A. Davis and a host of animators fail both visually and verbally with the characters. The dull characters are equally matched with a heavy-handed social message attempting to add weight to a lifeless picture.
Grade: C-
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