When I mentioned I was flying out to Los Angeles this past week, I received an email from Sir Etch-A-Sketch. He/she is a spy of some import that I’ve had for just a few months now. But anyway, Sir Etch, dropped a line saying he could arrange a small private screening of A BUG’S LIFE.
I hurled myself at the opportunity. Wow. A BUG’S LIFE! Cooooooooool. Pixar is a magic place isn’t it? I mean, it is there where they brought to life TOY STORY, and I so love that film.
So after I got to my L.A. hotel, I called up Etch, and said to get me. He/she couldn’t because... well the arrangements called for a 2a.m. screening, so I went out with Hallenbeck and Flunky Sidekick. We drove around, hooked up with Mr Script-dude, picked up about forty scripts, which I’ll be reading over the next few months. ARGONAUTS, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, etc...
Next we ventured over to a screening room called THE CHAPLIN ROOM. It was here that I saw A BUG’S LIFE.
I love TOY STORY. At the foot of my bed is a 5 foot Buzz Lightyear standee. Beside my computer is one of them moving Buzz Lightyear banks, the cupie doll with erector spider legs and Rex sit beneath the monitor. Woody hangs by the Goofy backwards clock on the wall. Little green army men parachute from my ceiling beside the fold out Olivia Newton John PHYSICAL album cover.
The first time I saw TOY STORY, I smiled so wide for so long, that my cheeks had cramps afterwards. It is the same, everytime I see it. I have the laserdisc, the making of book, all the toys. I went out and got the pieces to make the toys they never made. I LOVE TOY STORY. To me, it is THE film of the 90’s.
I read the script for TOY STORY II, personally I feel the script is better than TOY STORY. They nailed it again. I talked with Steve Jobs on the phone a couple of times about it. I’ve talked with the publicity people at Pixar. I love Pixar. They’ve been nothing but good to me.
I like A BUG’S LIFE. It is not TOY STORY. Of course it should probably never ever even be thought of together. They are different stories. This is a play on THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN more so than TOY STORY.
I think A BUG’S LIFE is a charming film, a likable film. I just don’t love it. Why?
The backgrounds are stunning, some of the best CGI work I’ve ever seen. The colors and textures of the Grasshoppers and the non-ant bugs are all stunning and beautiful. But the ants are blue. Why are the ants blue? I don’t know. But they are. Of course that only bothered me for about 15 minutes, then I was like... into the story.
The thing that kept me from LOVING the film has nothing to do with the blueness of it. (I love Yellow Submarine) Imagine TOY STORY, if Woody and Buzz were not in it. For me, this is a character actor film, where you have all these characters, but no central voice. Flick just doesn’t do it for me. If Flick’s character was fantastic, this movie would go through the roof with me, but it just didn’t do it.
Sure, as it stands, I saw a rough cut of the film. The final music wasn’t in place. That could go a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG way to helping Flick. Just imagine Woody or Buzz with out those song montages. They added so much soul, so much elegance to the characters. I hope that would work here.
Is there nothing to like?
Who the hell said that? Not me. There’s tons to enjoy. All of it is non-ant though for me. The circus bugs, each and everyone of them is dead on. Kevin Spacey as the lead Grasshopper is classic. The ‘action’ sequences are perfect. There is an equivalent to a T-REX in this film that will genuinely scare the bejeesus out of you. The animation is top notch. The characters emote so effortlessly.
But... It didn’t leave me stunned. It didn’t kick my ass. My cheeks are not cramped. My eyes were dazzled. It is pure unadulterated eye-candy. And by all means go see it. What I’m trying to do for you, is lower your expectations just a tad. Get you to not think, “THIS IS GONNA BE BETTER THAN TOY STORY” cause if you go in like that... well, you may come out a bit on the disappointed side.
On a separate note Hallenbeck was also at the screening, and he loved the film. Hopefully he’ll be writing up his thoughts on it soon. I hope so, cause he saw it with different eyes from me. The group we saw it with was split a bit on it. Most people my age loved it. Why the generations older than us, didn’t love it.
What I didn’t do was compare this to ANTZ. They are not even the same genre. Don’t fall into the media trap of doing that. ANTZ is for an older crowd, it’s a satire. A BUG’S LIFE is a juvenile adventure story.
A BUG’S LIFE is a good watch, it’s a fun film. It’s a helluva way to spend your time. But I do prefer Fleischer’s MR BUG GOES TO TOWN. In that film, Hoppity is so likable, so filled as a character, that I just love it. That’s really the missing component for me. The likable main character, it just wasn’t there for me. The secondary characters and the villians are all perfect.
ARGH! I really wanted to love this one dammit. I usually don’t give star ratings, I don’t like that. It’s a bit too labelling. Out of 10, which is the poll below, I would say that I’d give it a 7 out of 10. I’d deduct 3 points for not falling head over heels for Flick. He’s the key to completing the puzzle.
I will be reviewing this a second time though. When the film is released, I’ll review it as a completed film. Do see it. It’s a good movie, just not great... to me at least.
