Film

The Ant Bully

Cert: U

Description: Having suffered at the hands of the local bullies yet again, lonely boy Lucas Nickle vents his frustration on an ant colony by flooding the animals' home. One of the ants, potions master Zoc, vows revenge and he pours a secret concoction into the boy's ear which magically shrinks Lucas. The human child is spirited away to the ants' nest where the queen condemns Lucas to work with the friendly creatures to repair the damage and to learn the meaning of teamwork.

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Dir: John A. Davis.

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Zach Tyler Eisen

Country: US.

Year: 2006.

Duration: 89mins

Anty climax

Ant Bully: should get the boot

Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 3 Aug 2006

Tom Hanks was a producer of this piece of below-average children's animation.

It's about a bullied 10-year-old (Zach Tyler Eisen), who takes out his angst on a colony of ants - only to find the insects are actually members of a complex society and ready to fight back.

Hanks somehow persuaded Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti and Lily Tomlin to voice the parts. But you wouldn't necessarily guess it, and John A Davis's computer animation is coarse and peremptory. You can see Ant Bully in selected Imax 3D theatres as well as on normal screens, and that might be the best idea.