A Bug’s Life

Directed by John Lasseter, A Bug’s Life follows an ant colony as they attempt to fight back against a violent gang of sinister grasshoppers (led by Kevin Spacey’s Hopper). It’s appealing subject matter that’s employed to entertaining (albeit far-from-spectacular) effect by Lasseter, as the filmmaker, armed with Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced animated endeavor that benefits from its inventive narrative and raft of first-class voice performances – with, in terms of the latter, Lasseter eliciting engaging work from such top-notch players as Dave Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and David Hyde Pierce. (Spacey’s impressively menacing turn remains an ongoing highlight, however, as does Richard Kind’s frequently hilarious efforts as Hopper’s dimwitted brother.) And while the picture never becomes quite as engaging or engrossing as one might’ve hoped, with the inclusion of a tedious, action-packed final stretch doing little to allay the primarily-for-kids feel, A Bug’s Life ultimately comes off as an amiable Pixar release that doesn’t come close to achieving the highs of the studio’s previous film, Toy Story.

**1/2 out of ****