The Ant Bully (2006) : Pint Sized Cage [Mike’s Review]
Today on Cage Club we try to save the colony in The Ant Bully. We are back with the second incarnation of cartoon Cage, however in a much different animated style. Unlike the more classic ink and paint style of Christmas Carol : The Movie, this animated feature is done in the modern style of computer animation. This movie will mark he first of three CGI animated movies that Cage is a part of and he is definitely much more central to the story this time too. This film is also an adaptation of a children’s book called “The Ant Bully” so it’s a Cage Club two for one, an animated feature adapted from a book !!!
Cage plays Zoc, an Ant. But he is not like other ants, he is an alchemist, or a wizard, or a scientist. The point is, Zoc is trying to branch out and discover new ways of doing things that could help save the colony one day. One of the main threats to Ant life is Peanut the Destroyer, or rather Lucas, the boy who’s yard the Ant colony happens to be in. Zoc mixes a magic concoction that they use against Lucas one night after an especially bad attack with the garden hose that shrinks him down to Ant size making him much easier to deal with. Lucas pleads his case to the Queen Ant, that he didn’t mean to hurt anyone and was just taking out his frustration on the Ants when he gets bullied by the bigger kids on the street. There is a lot of bullying going around in this movie and that is a major theme. It was nice to see a film address that topic which every kid has to deal with at some point or another.
Peanut the Destroyer is sentenced to become an ant and live among the colony, but he’s a selfish human that needs to learn a lesson or two before he can work as a team. There are some nice sequences that explore ant abilities like building ladders and walking up walls, and the movie on a while looks great. It is bright and sharp and the character designs are smooth and pleasing to look at, for insects. Before long, the colony is attacked by bigger, more deadly bugs that resemble Wasps, but I’m not sure what they are exactly just that there is an exciting battle sequence ending with a really good joke that was recently used again in the movie Marvel’s Ant Man. When Lucas finds a firecracker in the grass and ignites it, the camera cuts to a long shot of the year and a very small and unimpressive explosion as seen from the full sized vantage point. The movie played with scale like that a lot and very successfully too. There are some great shots of interacting with a full sized telephone at one point as well as all the natural beauty revealed when you get down to the micro-level.
Doc and Lucas don’t really get along and Zoc threatens to never return Lucas to full size, but after risking his life and leading the charge to fight off the Exterminator at the end, Lucas gains Zoc’s respect and is considered a full fledge ant and member of the colony. Lucas is returned to full size and has a better appreciation for the little things in life. He also learned confidence and self respect wrought o stand up to and overcome his own bully. Also, Cage as an ant, gets the girl ant in the end.
I feel like Cage did a good job in this movie as a voice over artist but he isn’t really doing anything more than his own voice. It would have been nice if he played an ant with a crazy accent or just tried to modify his own voice in some way. But, that is not the style of this film. Everyone in the movie from Julia Roberts to Bruce Campbell are using a slight variation on their own voice and not doing anything way over the top. I really thought it was cool how much of Cage’s likeness the animators were able to capture in his expressions and movement. That was one plus for this movie for sure, the ant Zoc resembled Nic Cage.
Next up on Cage Club we get a lot more serious again and take a look at the film “World Trade Center”. I have sort of avoided this movie up until now and don’t really know what to expect from it. I am ready to give it a watch and revisit a very tragic period in recent history.
Mike
@the_mikestir
