Review of A Bug's Life (1998) by Andres M — 22 Jul 2015

Warning Spoilers:

Marking as Pixar's second feature film, A Bug's Life is another magnificent piece of groundbreaking animation and storytelling, with pure creative charm, and imagination. An advancement in computer animation, with stunning visuals, the films lives up to expectations and wows audience like an animated movie should. I watched the film over and over, and it is still as good as watching it for the first time, and it immediately puts a smile on my face, as it is exciting, hilarious, intense, and no matter what, timeless.

Premise:

Just like Toy Story, A Bug's Life features a simple yet thought provoking idea, that takes you into the world and perspective of insects. However unlike Toy Story, the film brings you to a much more organic and natural world, which involve massive upgrades in the scope and complexity, though they manage to keep it simple. And also, it also manages to take another step, from 77 minutes from Toy Story to 95 minutes here. 10/10.

Story/Scripts:

The story here is also thought provokingly simple, it features the story of an inventive ant named Flik, played by Dave Foley, who must leave his colony to find a group a warriors who turn out be circus bugs, to help battle against an army of grasshoppers lead by the menacing Hopper, voiced by Kevin Spacey. However once he finds out that they are clowns, he realizes how important this mission is, and they must work together to create a plan to finally rid the grasshoppers, and save the colony. The story here is more complex than Toy Story, although no less impressive. However unlike Toy Story, this movie has a more characters, which means a much longer story. Like Toy Story, the story and script blends simplicity with sophistication, which means even though it is child-friendly, the movie is still adult and grownup, with elements that will bring huge appeal to adults. The humor is brilliant, not only bringing in sophisticated yet sharp dialogue, it also has a extended variety of humor and comedy. 10/10.

Animation:

A massive improvement over Toy Story is the animation. Boasting massive upgrades in Pixar's Academy Award (R) Winning software PhotoRealistic RenderMan, the animation team brings vast upgrades both in detail, textures, scope, and scale. It is also remarkable how Pixar is able to take a very small world and make them seem huge and large-scale. It's wonderful how we are rewarded to gorgeous backgrounds and realistic set-pieces that still look good after 16 years. Also, the character designs are neither edgy or too cute, and are look great.

10/10.

Characters/Casting:

The team hasn't disappointed here either. Here we have a great cast such as Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia-Louise Dreyfuss, Dennis Leary, and many more who all fit perfectly each characters in a memorable and remarkable new way. Unlike Toy Story, were they focus on a particular group of characters, there are over 20 major characters, and over 800 ants in a single shot, resulting to creating a new crowd simulation. To a surprise they are all unique and in-depth characters, although you don't get as much screen time for the supporting characters as the film focuses on Flik and the circus bugs. 9.5/10.

A Bug's Life is another groundbreaking feat in the Pixar family and beloved and a magnificent classic that should be discovered. Pixar has wowed us again, not only proving themselves as master in storytelling, but that Pixar is no one-hit-wonder.