 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Antz
- Review Date: May 2, 2004
- PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 1998
Common Sense Media says
Great effects, but surprisingly violent. Lacks kid appeal.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the characters in this movie have little kid appeal, and the violence, including the deaths of two characters and the slaughter of thousands of animated "extras," is much too intense for younger children.
What's the story?
In ANTZ, Woody Allen provides the voice of Z, the movie's hero, and we first see him on the analyst's couch, complaining about his feelings of inadequacy. A worker ant among millions of others, he longs for some individuality. When he meets the ant princess Bala (voice of Sharon Stone), he longs to see her again. So he persuades his friend Weaver (voice of Sylvester Stallone), a soldier ant, to switch places with him. Weaver enjoys being a worker, but Z finds to his horror that he is being sent into battle by the megalomaniacal General Mandible (voice of Gene Hackman). He is befriended by Barbados (voice of Danny Glover), who is killed, along with all of the other soldiers. Only Z escapes, and it is up to him to rescue the rest of the ant colony from Mandible.
Is it any good?
The technological mastery and all-star cast all but obscure the one real problem of this movie -- it does not know who its audience is. The computer animation suggests that it's for kids (like Toy Story, which focused on themes that touched both children and adults). But the focus of Antz is its astonishing visual effects and outstanding voice performances by some of Hollywood's top stars. The theme of individual spirit in a world of conformity is just an afterthought, and a muddled one at that.
The witty script aims its humor at adults who can appreciate the in-jokes, the characters have little kid appeal, and the violence, including the deaths of two characters and the slaughter of thousands of animated "extras," is much too intense for younger children. Yet the visual effects are dazzling, and the movie also provides a welcome reminder that performers as inextricably linked to their appearance as Allen, Stallone, and Stone are capable of superb vocal characterization.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about when to question authority, how to balance individuality with community norms, and how what seems like garbage to us may be "Insectopia" from another perspective.
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AGE
COMPLETELY disagree with the 8+ rating - this is a Big Kid movie
We previewed this movie in hopes we could show it to our 6 year old and 8 year old who are entranced by their ant farm these days. SO glad we previewed it. SUre, it's just animated, but it's still graphically violent - screen-for-screen shots of battle scenes depicted in countless rated-R movies. The guts were green instead of red, but does that make this violence ok? There's serious deception, political issues (trying to take over the colony through murder), really bad language (we backed up in SEVERAL places to make sure we were hearing what we THOUGHT we'd heard first time through).
Why do movie makers have to ruin films this way?
Not only won't I recommend it for children - there's nothing redeeming in this film for any age.
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AGE
I think all you parents are being a little too sensitive. Hell, is not a bad word. I'm sorry, but it isn't. Your kiddies hear it every Sunday, and I bet when they are at school, they are saying it as well. Language these days isn't as "adult" as it used to be. This is a good movie, yes it does have pretty intense fighting scenes, but nothing they haven't seen before in their lives. So, don't be so picky parents, it's not inappropriate movie by any means, and I think liberal parents will love the government messages it has under the kiddy stuff.
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AGE
Good for older kids, not for elementary school aged.
I've seen this movie alone and with my kids several times, ages 8 and 5. The last time we watched it I caught several bad words and a couple of innuendos. I've decided to shelve it until they are older. My oldest realized the language and gave us the "did you hear that" look.
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AGE
good movie
a good movie have a few miled words and some vilence (burning ants with a magnifing glass)
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AGE
Not for young kids, buy maybe tweens.
While the site might say okay for 7+ Id say it's much higher. From what I remember, the violence was problematic and the langauge was pretty bad for a kids flick.
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AGE
antz is good for younger kids the only problem is that it has cartoon violence.
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AGE
The language in this movie REALLY surprised me
There are a lot of things in this movie that make me shocked that it is a cartoon.
The worst is the language. Everything from Dam*, Cra*, He**, I believe they say A** too. It just blew me away. Then the movie itself:
Kidnapping, War (ok it's a bug war but the violence is still there), Fighting in general (there are I believe 2 fistfights one where a male ant hits a female ant), Oh yeah and of course the whole main idea of the movie which is the big bad army ant attempting or murder everyone in the entire colony that he doesn't think is WORTHWHILE. It's pretty much a cartoon version of Hitler. I literally threw this movie out. I DO NOT reccomend it to any child under 13.
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| Topics: | bugs |
| Studio: | DreamWorks |
| Directors: | Eric Darnell, Lawrence Guterman, Tim Johnson |
| Cast: | Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, Woody Allen |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 84 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 2, 1998 |
| DVD release date: | November 19, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | tension, cartoon violence, and some language |
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