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New in town, friendless and tormented by a neighborhood bully, young Lucas Nickle has been taking out his frustration on the innocent ant hill in his yard. But one day the ants retaliate. Using a magic potion, they shrink Lucas down to ant size and sentence him to live like an ant in their colony. In this strange new world Lucas will learn important lessons about friendship, get a whole new perspective on life and ultimately find the courage to stand up for himself.
Animated Adventure - This is an animated comedy aimed at children though some action
sequences may be too intense for the really young. That said, this
is typical animated family fare.
Berardinelli, Internet CriticFull Review Average Young kids may find The Ant Bully appealing, but nearly everyone else, including parents forced to sit through the movie, will understand the difference between a 'family film' and a 'children's film,' and why this picture belongs in the latter category.
USA TodayFull Review Above Average Ant Bully, while not wildly fresh or inventive, is entertaining and energetic...Though the story is predictable, the message is benign, and the visuals, particularly in IMAX 3-D, are stylized and surreal.
Note: The rating
above is our interpretation of what the critic would give this movie based on
their review. We are not affiliated with these critic's in any way.
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DETAILED OPINIONS
The positive and negative comments made by moviegoers are very
helpful when selecting a movie that's appropriate for you and your family.
OPINION OVERVIEW The following is the original "What's Worth
Watching" write-up for this movie.
Moviegoer Opinions:
Based on a theater exit polling of 54 moviegoers:Great opinions from the kids, decent opinions from parents. Approximately half the adults, both male and female, really enjoyed "The Ant Bully," rating it "Very Good" or higher. About half of the remaining moviegoers rated it as average with the rest rating it below average. For an animated kids movie this is pretty good. It's certainly not as well liked as "Toy Story" or "Shrek," but most parents will be entertained enough to make this a good family time at the movies.
Poor 10-year-old Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler Eisen) can't get a break.
Recently moved to a new city with his family, he hasn't made a single friend. He gets
nothing but grief from his teenage sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack), and not a whole lot of attention
lately from his parents (Cheri Oteri and Larry Miller), who are busy planning their big
anniversary weekend trip to Puerto Vallarta. Meanwhile, his loving but kinda kooky
grandmother Mommo (Lily Tomlin) spends all her time trying to protect the family from those
space aliens she's been reading about in the grocery store magazines.
To make matters worse, Lucas has become the number one target of neighborhood bully
Steve, who never misses an opportunity to push him around.
In turn, Lucas delights in destroying ant hills in his yard—venting his frustration on the
defenseless mounds of dirt and their tiny inhabitants by kicking them, stomping them and
squirting them with the garden hose.
But, unbeknownst to Lucas, there is a whole world alive and busy just underneath his
feet, and what he sees as "just a bunch of stupid ants” are actually members of a complex
society, with names and relationships, responsibilities and emotions. They're getting mighty
tired of having their homes trampled by Lucas The Destroyer. And they are ready to fight back.
The magic potion that Wizard Ant Zoc (Nicolas Cage) has long been working on is
finally finished. One drop in Lucas' gigantic human ear and he is instantly shrunken down to ant
size and taken deep below the ant hill to stand trial.
The Head of the Ant Council (Ricardo Montalban) proclaims Lucas guilty of crimes
against the colony. Sentenced by the wise Ant Queen (Meryl Streep) to live among the ants and
learn their ways to earn his freedom, Lucas finds himself in an incredible landscape suddenly
teeming with life—and peril—that he never noticed or even imagined before, and embarks on
the adventure of a lifetime.
