Review: Take Sides With 'The Ant Bully'

'The Ant Bully' (PG) (out of four)

Sure, it sounds cliché, but honestly, I would never hurt a fly.

And after seeing "The Ant Bully," I certainly wouldn't hurt an ant, either.

That's the kind of feeling you'll leave the theater with after seeing this computer-animated extravaganza -- a family-friendly tale with a lot of heart that's woven within a rousing, colorful and often-times humorous adventure. Told almost entirely from an ant's perspective, it's sure to give kids second thoughts the next time they feel like taking a garden hose to the anthill in the back yard.

Based on the children's book by John Nickle, "The Ant Bully" tells the story of Lucas Nickle (voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen), a 10-year-old boy who constantly finds himself the target of the bully on his block. But instead of fighting back, Lucas takes his frustrations out on the ants in his back yard with a squirt gun, foot stomps and any other means that put the teeny insects in peril.

Unbeknownst to Lucas, down below the anthill is a thriving population of creatures that have feelings much like their human counterparts. And some ants like Zoc (Nicolas Cage) want Lucas to feel the pain. To accomplish that, Zoc's concocted a potion that shrinks this ant bully down to their size so he can be put on trial.

But once in the colony, Lucas is spared death. The Ant Queen (Meryl Streep), a pacifist ruler, would rather have the young boy serve out a sentence of living like an ant to gain an appreciation of the lives he's put in peril.

Assigned to the nurturing ant Hova (Julia Roberts), Lucas slowly starts to get the ways of the ant world. But a decision to hire an evil exterminator (Paul Giamatti) to get rid of the pests shortly before he was shrunk down to ant size is coming back to haunt him -- and his new friends.

Thanks to the A-list power of producer Tom Hanks (who realized the book would make a good movie after his son, Truman, brought it home from school), "The Ant Bully" greatly benefits from a bumper crop of voice talent, which also includes the stately Richardo Montalban, the goofy Lily Tomlin and legendary voice actor Frank Welker.

The great thing about "The Ant Bully" is that, as esteemed as the voice cast is, the characters are never once overwhelmed by the actors' off-screen personalities. While her voice its not as distinctive as her co-stars, Roberts brings a warm, motherly sense to Hova, while Cage nails the sense of confusion needed for Zoc, who's pining for the affections of Hova while jealous of how she is so caring for Lucas. And like he's done with so many of his live-action roles, Giamatti disappears into his exterminator character.

While Streep has the smallest amount of screen time as the Ant Queen, she certainly makes the most of it. Much like her fairy-like Blue Mecha voice role in "AI: Artificial Intelligence," Streep's voice has an ethereal resonance that commands your attention everytime the Queen speaks.

While "The Ant Bully" doesn't necessarily break new ground with its story (it's tried-and-true coming-of-age tale theme is easy to predict) and not-so-subtle messages of peace and co-existence, the film hardly ever gets stale. Director John A. Davis ("Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius") keeps the dialogue snappy and moves the action along at a consistent pace, taking us through the nooks and crannies of the seldom-seen underground world of ants.

Davis also takes us to the outside world of humans, which includes a wonderful scene where Lucas, Hova and ants Fugax (a hilarious Bruce Campbell) and Kreela (Regina King) take flight in the boy's home with the help of a fan and some rose petals.

There's also a killer scene where the exterminator character, named, Stan Beals (whose company bears the devilish name "Beals a Bug"), tries to wreak havoc upon Lucas' back yard, where the director playfully takes us to such garish locales as bug killer's lice-infested scalp and snot-drooping nose hairs. As you might have guessed, the film is not short on gross-out humor, but for what it is, it works.

The disproportion between Lucas and the ants, and the human world around them, gives "The Ant Bully" a convincing "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" feel, and for fans of classic monster movie fare, hearkens "The Incredible Shrinking Man" -- and seeing the film in 3D IMAX only heightens that experience. A scene inside a frog's belly is only one of the many in "The Ant Bully" that makes the 3D option, if you have it, more than worthwhile.