THE ANT BULLY — * 1/2 — Animated feature starring the voices of Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage and others; rated PG (violence, vulgarity, drugs, brief nudity).
Like most animated films these days, "The Ant Bully" features state-of-the-art digital animation and an all-star voice cast.
But while this cartoon adaptation of the best-selling children's book may look a lot like DreamWorks and Pixar movies, the look is all it really has going for it.
The brain-dead script (courtesy of "Jimmy Neutron" creator John A. Davis) gives such talented people as Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Paul Giamatti next to nothing to do. And the whole thing is so mean-spirited, cruel and crude that all the funny jokes in the world couldn't make up for it.
Of course, it doesn't have nearly that many funny jokes.
The title character is Lucas Nickle, voiced by Zack Tyler Eisen (from the Nickelodeon cartoon "Avatar: The Last Airbender"). Lucas is a picked-on young boy who's been taking his frustrations out on the ants roaming his family's yard. But his insect victims have discovered a way to get their revenge. Clever wizard Zoc (Cage) concocts a potion that shrinks Lucas down to the size of a bug.
Rather than simply eating "The Destroyer," however, the ants decide to train their former tormentor to become an ant. And the trainer selected is Hova (Roberts), Zoc's girlfriend. In the meantime, an exterminator Lucas accidentally hired is preparing to rid the yard of its insect infestation.
Believe it or not, Tom Hanks helped produce this mess, which may explain how the production landed this cast. Of the actors, the only one who really sounds as if he's having fun is Bruce Campbell, as a brash but clueless warrior ant.
Some of the more questionable material here begs the question, how did an animated film this violent and crass skirt by with a PG rating instead of the more appropriate PG-13? (The product placement is also pretty shameless.)
"The Ant Bully" is rated PG for scenes of animated violence and peril (including bullying and various insect attacks), crude humor about bodily functions (references, sight gags and slang), drug content (use of potions and bug spray), and brief nudity (a male back side). Running time: 88 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com