Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants
Directors: Helene Giraud, Thomas Szabo
Category: I (no dialogue)
3/5 stars
Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1594547/film-review-miniscule-valley-ants-pitched-squarely-children 48 Hours
Film review: Miniscule: Valley of the Ants is pitched squarely at children
Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants
Directors: Helene Giraud, Thomas Szabo
Category: I (no dialogue)
3/5 stars
The title of this film is slightly misleading. It is not about ants, but a ladybird that ends up with some ants. After getting separated from his family, and injuring himself in a run-in with some annoying flies, our red insect protagonist gets taken in by some friendly black ants.
In nature, any helpless insect gets torn apart as food — but this is a children's movie based on a Belgian/French TV show created by the film's co-writers/directors, Helene Giraud and Thomas Szabo. So the young ladybird is accepted by a different species. Are they just being nice because they've just found a tin of sugar cubes left behind at a picnic?
Ants are a useful analogy for human society. Their city-like colony, in which every creature plays different roles within the group, provides an ideal framework for anthropomorphic storytelling.
LITTLE THINGS: the film is pitched squarely at children.
The directors combine live photography taken in the forests of the Alps with computer-generated creatures, and the result looks great, whether or not you see it in 3D. Rather than humanise bugs with tight close-ups and facial features, these insects just have large, expressive eyes. Also, since most are shot against a backdrop, they remain, well, minuscule.
It takes a while for the adventure to take shape. Much of it involves the nice ants trying to push their tin of glucose through a natural obstacle course — rivers, walls, fearsome giant insect-eating lizards — and back to their anthill.
The filmmakers pitch the movie squarely at children, and make no concessions for adults. There is no dialogue, just quaint bug noises interpreted as toots, whistles, giggles and gurgles. Forget about any snappy pop-culture retorts or Oscar-baiting hit songs.
But there are angry baddies in the form of red fire ants, who want to steal their rival's sugary treats and invade their home colony, too. The final epic siege is comparable to the attack on Gondor in the final The Lord of the Rings film.
It would have been interesting if the directors had sketched more distinct personalities for the ladybird and the ants, and the film falters because they did not commit to a more realistic vision of the insect world. It's one thing to imagine a dozen strong ants carrying off an entire tin box, but the ending gets ridiculous when the red ants threaten their enemy with a large can of bug spray. So, our little creatures are smart enough to understand chemical warfare?
Even so, there is hardly any disturbing or graphic insect violence, and Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants will prove a welcome diversion for your little ones. But it's not likely to beat your home copy of Frozen in the popularity stakes.
Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants opens on September 18