Review of The Ant Bully (2006) by Indu R — 30 Jun 2008

In the kingdom of the ants, few things are more frightening than the Destroyer, a giant that seems to exist only to wreak mass destruction on their home. This deadly force of nature is actually Lucas (Zach Tyler, The Backyardigans), a little boy being bullied by bigger kids in his neighborhood.

Out of frustration, Lucas responds by attacking his front yard's ant hill with hoses, rocks, and kicks from his sneakers. The ants' resident wizard, Zoc (Nicolas Cage, The Rock), has a solution.

He's created a powerful potion that shrinks Lucas down the ants' size. Now a captive of the ants, a frightened Lucas is brought before their queen (Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada) for judgment.

She decides that Lucas must live as one of them, to teach him a lesson. Lucas's instructor in the ways of antdom is the kind-hearted Hova (Julia Roberts, Closer), who has her work cut out for her, because none of the other ants want their "Destroyer" living with them.

When a death-happy exterminator (Paul Giamatti, Sideways) arrives to rid the entire lawn of all insects, it's up to Lucas to save the day. The animation is, for the most part, as dazzling as we've come to expect with our computer-created treats; the character design is attractive and admirable, and the "cave art" scenes (in which Lucas is introduced to the ant colony's drawn history, which resembles ancient cave drawings) are pretty stunning.

And on a storytelling level, Davis' knack for comic timing is on display, with a well played verbal or sight gag earning a few chuckles here and there.