What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that some scenes might be a little
scary for very young kids -- in particular, menacing spiders,
frogs, wasps, flyswatters, and bullies try to wipe out entire
civilizations (the ants). Also, Lucas is in constant danger
after being shrunk down to ant size. There's some name-calling,
mild profanities (such as "butt"), and bodily function
jokes.
Families can talk about the importance of compassion, teamwork, and loyalty. Sometimes we try to "go it alone," but it's always okay to ask for help when we need it. How can this help us as we grow into adulthood and face new challenges? It's okay to be strong and stand up for ourselves, but is it ever a good idea to "take revenge" on someone? Also, find some examples of communities around us that we don't often see or notice. Why is it important to know about these communities, and how do they fit into our world?
Common Sense Media Review
Guess what? It's not all about us! That's right, there are
lots of other worlds out there humming along quite nicely
without us, thank you very much. And with Oscar-nominated
director John A. Davis (
Jimmy
Neutron: Boy Genius
) and producer Tom Hanks to remind us of that, this is a
fun family movie with some great life-lessons.
Ten-year-old Lucas Nickle (voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen) recently moved to a new city with his family. But he hasn't made a single friend and gets nothing but grief from his teenage sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack). Not only that, his parents (Cheri Oteri and Larry Miller) are too busy planning their big anniversary trip to Puerto Vallarta to pay much attention to him (yet another in a long line of uninterested parents in kids' movies...sigh...).
Meanwhile, his loving-but-kooky grandmother, Mommo (Lily Tomlin) spends all her time trying to protect the family from those outer-space aliens she's always reading about in the grocery store checkout line. To make matters worse, Lucas has become the number one target of local bully Steve (Myles Jeffrey), who never misses an opportunity to push him around.
As is usually the case with humans, Lucas vents his frustrations by taking it out on someone else -- namely, the anthills in his front yard. He tortures the tiny inhabitants by kicking them, stomping them, squirting them with the garden hose, and frying them with a magnifying glass.
But, unbeknownst to Lucas, there's a whole world alive and busy just under his feet. Sure, they may be just a bunch of little ants to him, but in reality, they're actually members of a complex society, with names and relationships, responsibilities and emotions. And they're getting mighty tired of having their homes trampled by Lucas The Destroyer. They're ready to fight back!
But their justice system doesn't consist of violence. Oh no, they have a more diplomatic way to deal with bullies, one that involves a magic potion created by Wizard Ant Zoc ( Nicolas Cage). One drop in Lucas's gigantic human ear and he's instantly shrunk down to ant size and taken deep below the ant hill to be placed on trial.
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