THE ANT BULLY

2006, Warner Brothers

Animated

Rating: PG

Approx. 88 mins.

THE STORY:

Lucas Nickle is the new kid on the block and the local bullies won't let him forget it. He deals with his frustration and isolation by terrorizing the ants in his yard who know him as The Destroyer. Zoc (Nicholas Cage), the wizzard wanna-be ant, comes up with a potion which miniaturizes Lucas to equalize bullier and bullied.

While most of the ants want to kill and eat Lucas, the queen (Meryl Streep) insists that they teach him-- why destroy one when you can use that one to hopefully change others? Inspired by the queen's mission, the maternal ant Hova (Julia Roberts) agrees to take him under her wing.

Lucas has to learn to forget his every-man-for-himself attitude, and act as a co-operative member of a colony to fight against an ardent exterminator (Paul Giamatti). In the end, Lucas returns to his normal size, but takes a new perspective on how he wants to treat others-- and be treated himself-- back to his old life.   

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

•  stupid

VIOLENCE:

• nothing significant-- the main message of the movie is anti-violence

TEACHING POINTS:

• a strong anti-bullying message
• get to know people before judging them; don't assume, learn and know

THE UPSHOT:

I like the message of this film: the idea of walking a mile in someone else's shoes, so to speak. I also like the fact that I didn't feel bludgeoned by the message at the expense of story or general entertainment. 
The voices and script are pretty solid, but I found the pacing a bit uneven. I felt too much time was spent on minor things and not enough on some key moments-- Lucas' miniaturization, for one. The ending also felt a bit rushed and was a bit too simplistic. Yes, in a perfect world right triumphs over wrong, but pacifistically standing up to a bully is not guaranteed to result in the best possible of outcomes.
The Ant Bully was a hit with the 5 year-old in the room simply for its humour and silliness. The adults couldn't help but compare it with the many other insect-centric kids' movies around (Bug's Life, Bee Movie, etc.) and find it just a little wanting. Overall, however, the pluses outweigh the negatives, and it's definitely worth a watch.  

4/5