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Januarv' <strong>1999</strong> (Tl-6^ 5.1<br />
REVIEWS<br />
A BUG'S LIFE iriririr<br />
Voices by Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey,<br />
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Hyde Pierce,<br />
Denis Leary and Phyllis Diller. Directed<br />
by John Lasseter. Written by Andrew<br />
Stanton, Donald McEnery & Bob Shaw.<br />
Produced by Darla K. Anderson and Kevin<br />
Reher. A Buena Vista release. Animated.<br />
Rated G. Running time: 95 min.<br />
A handful of cursory similarities to Dream-<br />
Works' "Antz" notwithstanding, Disney's<br />
long-awaited "A Bug's Life" emerges as<br />
the clear winner of the computer-generated<br />
insect competition. Funnier, flashier, more<br />
colorful and imaginative, better animated<br />
and, most importantly, better written, this<br />
second collaboration from Disney and animation<br />
studio Pixar is a festive delight sure<br />
to please adults and children of all ages.<br />
Like the first Disney/Pixar effort, "Toy<br />
Story," "A Bug's Life" succeeds by creating<br />
a breathtakingly comprehensive world<br />
in miniature and imposing upon it a meticulously<br />
well-scripted concept. The starting<br />
point here is a small ant colony that has been<br />
virtually enslaved by the tyranny of a grasshopper<br />
gang led by Hopper (Kevin Spacey),<br />
an egomaniac who demands that the ants<br />
spend their free time gathering food for the<br />
grasshoppers to eat during their frequent<br />
stopovers. Despite outnumbering the grasshoppers,<br />
most of the ants never question the<br />
relationship between nature's creations. Flik<br />
(Dave Foley), however, questions everything.<br />
Individualistic, inventive and clever, Flik is<br />
forever urging the rest of the ants to think<br />
progressively, with overzealous admonishments<br />
that serve to annoy more than inspire.<br />
When Flik suggests that the colony seek<br />
out the aid of "warrior bugs" to help defend<br />
against the grasshoppers, skeptical colonists<br />
instead see a chance to rid themselves<br />
of Flik once and for all, sending the adventurous<br />
ant to accomplish the task himself.<br />
Only when Rik returns with said warrior<br />
bugs does the colony begin to see him for<br />
the courageous visionary he really is. There's<br />
just one remaining hitch: The bugs that Rik<br />
has enlisted, unbeknownst to him, aren't<br />
really warrior bugs, but circus bugs who<br />
have accompanied him on the belief that<br />
their task is to entertain rather than fight.<br />
As he did with "Toy Story," director John<br />
Lasseter brilliantly exploits the material for<br />
both laughs and pathos, while pushing the<br />
technological parameters of computer animation<br />
even beyond the already impressive<br />
feat of 'Toy Story." Similarities with "Antz,"<br />
of course, are certain to plague the film to a<br />
small degree: Both films deal with individualistic<br />
misfit ants whose courage in seeking<br />
the experience of the outside world<br />
enables them to save the colony and win the<br />
affections of the colony's princess, who in<br />
the process is able to ascend nobly to the<br />
throne of her mother, the Queen. The particulars<br />
of the two films, however, are so<br />
radically different as to be beyond comparison.<br />
Whereas "Antz" centers on the political<br />
machinations of the ant colony, "A<br />
Bug's Life" casts a wider focus on the world<br />
of all insects—a wiser and more interesting<br />
choice. Wade Major<br />
Flik (voiced by David Foley) leads a revolution against the grasslioppers in "A Bug's Life."<br />
ENEMY OF THE STATE icirir<br />
Starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon<br />
Voight and Regina King. Directed by Tony<br />
ScotL Written by David Marconi Produced<br />
by Jerry Bruckheimer. A Buena Vista release.<br />
Thriller. Rated R for language and<br />
violence. Running time: 132 min.<br />
"Enemy of the State" is one of those films<br />
where major scene changes are punctuated<br />
by superimposed digital readouts showing<br />
the hour in military time; where low, ominous<br />
rumblings herald the impending assault<br />
of men with guns; where people chase<br />
each other with impunity through busy<br />
streets, back alleys and restaurant kitchens;<br />
where testosterone flows like a mountain<br />
stream. In short, it's the kind of movie at<br />
which producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director<br />
Tony Scott excel.<br />
Reuniting for the first time since "Crimson<br />
Tide," Scott and Bruckheimer this time<br />
impose their ballistic style on the reliable<br />
old paranoid thriller, taking cues from films<br />
as diverse as "The Fugitive," "The Conversation,"<br />
"North by Northwest" and even<br />
Wim Wenders' recent art-house entry, "The<br />
End of Violence."<br />
At the center of the web is Robert Dean<br />
(Will Smith), a labor lawyer who becomes<br />
the unwitting possessor of an incriminating<br />
piece of video showing the assassination of<br />
a U.S. congressman by high-ranking National<br />
Security Agency (NSA) operatives.<br />
The congressman, it seems, stood in the<br />
way of legislation intended to increase the<br />
use of surveillance equipment in monitoring<br />
the populace—breathtakingly sophisticated<br />
technology that is brought to bear on<br />
Dean as he runs for his life, forced to dodge<br />
not only bullets, but cameras, microphones,<br />
tracking devices and even spy satellites.<br />
Fortunately, he finds a friend in the person<br />
of Brill (Gene Hackman), a former NSA<br />
communications expert who helps guide<br />
him past Big Brother's all-knowing eyes<br />
and ears to where he can, hopefully, expose<br />
the conspiracy and resume his life.<br />
Like Ed Zwick's "The Siege," "Enemy<br />
of the State" hypothesizes about the lengths<br />
to which a government would go in violating<br />
civil rights for the sake of national security.<br />
Unlike "The Siege," "Enemy of the<br />
State" succeeds at integrating its moralizing<br />
with populist entertainment. At the same<br />
time, Bruckheimer and Scott don't seem<br />
overly concerned with serious moralizing.<br />
The casting of Hackman in an obvious reprise<br />
of his "The Conversation" role, along<br />
with a host of celebrity cameos so brief that<br />
they scarcely qualify as extras, suggest a<br />
more playful attitude with respect to the<br />
material than one might ordinarily expect.<br />
Thankfully, it is the lack of such overt seriousness<br />
that ultimately saves the film from<br />
its shortcomings. Recognizing that audiences<br />
are more concerned with thrills than<br />
the logical lapses that seem chronically inherent<br />
in hyper-technological premises,<br />
Scott and Bruckheimer pace the film like a<br />
runaway train, with the requisite flashy visuals<br />
and percussive soundtrack thrown in<br />
for good measure. The cast is generally<br />
first-rate, from Smith and Hackman to Jon<br />
Voight as their fascistic government nemesis.<br />
Between the film's star power and stylistic<br />
sizzle, odds are that audiences will<br />
have neither the time nor the inclination to<br />
focus on plot and credibility holes. If nothing<br />
else, "Enemy of the State" is timely fare,<br />
wisely positioned to capitalize on increasing<br />
paranoia about personal privacy as well<br />
as public fascination with a video age characterized<br />
by television "reality" shows and<br />
videotaped beatings— yet another carefully<br />
calculated hit for the legacy of Don<br />
Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony<br />
Scott. Wade Major
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