🆗 69%

2nd Watch | 1998 Ranked | Animation Ranked

A Bug's Life isn't a bad film, but compared to the rest of Pixar's early filmography, it's definitely lacking from the rest. After having seen Seven Samurai, the film's story is much less likable. A Bugs Life is practically a remake of Seven Samurai to the point where it would be impossible for me to rate this higher than 4 stars unless it was perfect. I understand that films are supposed to take inspiration from other films. However, practically stealing the story of an amazing film makes the movie much less impressive if it's good. Being able to formulate your own stories with their own concepts is much more impressive than basically stealing the story. Obviously, a remake is different because it's supposed to be the same story. In addition, a parody is different because it's meant to be similar to the original film. In addition, adapting a book into a film is different because making the transition between books and movies is tough; it's hard to translate the content from one art form to another while preserving the quality. However, taking a renowned film and making a completely unrelated film but keeping the same premise doesn't warrant excuses. Not only does it drastically decline my appreciation for the film, but it also makes it way harder to prove itself as a great film. In fact, it makes me dislike A Bug's Life more and it makes me appreciate Seven Samurai more.

However, even when you don't consider the story, A Bug's Life still has its faults. For example, the animation itself wasn't great. I understand that A Bug's Life was the result of Pixar's earliest stages, where the capabilities of the rendering machines were limited. However, at least Toy Story had nice character designs and sets (would you still call them "sets" in an animated film?). However, A Bug's Life has none of that. The character designs are completely horrendous, lacking any detail or care for the visuals. The animation was terrible in comparison.

I don't want to write a horribly long review, mainly because I save the longer reviews for the better (or worse if I want to rant about it) films; it's a simple hierarchy. However, I do want to talk about the voice acting in the film. Early Pixar is also known for their great voice actors. Even though A Bug's Life got some great additions (such as Kevin Spacey as the grasshopper, the person who played Flik, and obviously the person who has been in practically every Pixar film (you know who). However, there were still too many characters with amateur voices for me to say that I loved the voice acting.

This review has featured a lot of negative criticism, but I don't want you to get a fully negative view for the film. It's not a bad film, but it is disappointing in comparison to the rest of Pixar's filmography. It's enjoyable, but it's not a film that I love or that I would be willing to rewatch any time soon. Even though in regards to Pixar's filmography, this would be the rotten apple of the bunch, it's still not a bad film in general. However, luckily Pixar stepped up from A Bug's Life in the future.

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