HD DVD Review: Ant Bully

A fun kids' adventure, Ant Bully was a lost film of 2006, ignored likely due to a similar concept and rapidly growing repetition amongst CG animated films. Taken on its own, it’s a colorful and imaginative affair that’s bound to captivate the target audience while harmless for adults. However, other similar titles are hard to ignore.

John Davis, who previously handled the fun Jimmy Neutron movie, directs this story of a boy shrunk down to ant size and forced to accept his punishment for his attempts to destroy the colony when he was full human height. The messages are here and apparent, out there for the kids to grasp and understand. It’s going to be hard for parents who might have an insect problem in their home to ever call an exterminator with Ant Bully and Over the Hedge out there, but the underlying lesson remains positive.

Bully gains a few early respect points with a subtle reference to sci-fi classic Them!, then becomes an energetic adventure. Action is lively and on a large scale, at least in terms of ants. Some mild adult humor hardly should have pushed this into PG territory, and kids will have plenty of laughs on their level to keep them glued to the screen while smiling.

Some of the ant peril aspects have been ripped directly from a growing line of insect-based animated features. A water attack is highly similar to the rain sequence from Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. The character design is likewise highly reminiscent, though few of the characters in Ant Bully are anywhere near as memorable. Bruce Campbell voices the goofy, rather dumb ant Fugax and becomes the most likely connection with kids aside from the human lead.

Low on originality, this remains a lighthearted animated effort with wonderful animation that’s loads of fun to watch. It crams all the necessary aspects of a movie for children into a brief 80 minute frame. A Bug’s Life may be a better choice, but if that’s past its prime in your home, this is an excellent alternative.

Article Author: Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki is a 12-year movie and game critic. He currently freelances for Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com and video game site MultiPlayerGames.com.

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