Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants

So here I am, watching the original "Minuscule" one week after I enjoyed its sequel with my daughter on the local movie theater, she liked the poster and if it wasn't for her enthusiastic endorsement, I might never have heard about any of "Minuscule 1" or "2", especially since the first one didn't even catch the attention of prestigious festivals, too busy rewarding "Frozen" to care about a simple, sweet and endearing movie about little insect that flies us back to the essence of animation and comedy.

And just as I expected it, the order of viewing didn't really matter. "Minuscule" proved to be an enchanting entertainment for the little ones, amused by these little buzzing sounds and thrilled by the action sequences and the adults who will appreciate the beautiful scenery, the gags and a few nods to their childhood. I trusted directors Helene Giraud and Thomas Szabo to beget something as hypnotic and thrilling as their sequel and I wasn't disappointed.

I knew the film wouldn't take the insects too far from home, that there would be no paradise island this time but now, but the series could expand to four or five installments, I don't think I'll get tired of it. You can take these ladybugs to the city, to New York City, to a desert, as long as they don't confront an army of cockroaches, I'll handle it. But there's more in the film than geographical escapism, its greatest merit is to dwell in many universes at the same time. Starting with the big picture: a realistic looking world established with a picnic with a real-looking couple, interestingly misleading us.

The picnic is interrupted when the woman in her latest stages of pregnancy feels the first signs of labor. Her husband takes her to the car, so they all leave the food at the mercy of little bugs and insects from the neighboring forest. And then we get to the insect's perspective and instead looking more or less real, what we get is perhaps the cutest creatures ever without the Disney eyelashes or the cute voices. They're all identified through wordless sounds: ladybugs buzz, ants emit sort of electronic hums, flies have a funny human-like giggle but there's little to no talk whatsoever.

And this is how you distance yourself from mastodons such as Pixar and Disney, there's no need for making any intelligible sound, you take the viewers back to the roots of animation and comedy by making a simple and straightforward story and leave everything up to slapstick, action and heart. It's just as simple as that and yet the level of fun is subtly sophisticated because the film doesn't try to take its 'no sound' device as a trademark of realism but as a creative canvas in order to fill up the scenes with the most inventive visual gags, appealing to both kids and adults.

And the structure of "Minuscule" is simple too, the film is divided in two acts: a thrilling chase sequences between black ants and red ants, the former group carrying a box of sugar cubes to their hive and the latter pursuing them inside a soda can after they refused one cube as a peace offering. The chase, as thrilling as "Apocalypto", gets trickier when their means of transportation are floating over rapids or when a hungry fish gets in the picture and a simple sugar box becomes a boat, a U-boat and war booty.

The second part involves a hilarious and heart-pounding war battle with the same box of cubes at stakes, and the mastery of CGI has nothing to envy from the epic effects "Mulan", I loved the epic of the red ants trying to break the black ants fortress, the way they use everyday objects as weapons, including insecticide bombs and toothpicks, or use forks as catapults even at the risk of falling down while uttering Wilhelm scream in their falls. I won't spoil the whole film but this is a fine example of linear and simple storytelling where the language is as universal as music.

Indeed, "Minuscule" has the outdated charm of a Silly Symphony cartoon, the tenderness of a Miyazaki especially with the cameo of a little spider creature who bears a strange resemblance with his soot sprites, the breathtaking visuals of a documentary and even the naughtiness of some more adult-oriented cartoons and one or two fart jokes that happen to work.

I saw the sequel in the theater and this one, at home, with my daughter and my father was here but she slept so we watched it alone and this time the roles were reversed, I was the little one watching it with his parent, but like the previous film, we both liked it. And I guess the best compliment you can give it is that it feels like it could have been made at any time for any audience. "Frozen" is good but it's a product of its time, "The Wind Rises" is masterpiece but that Miyazaki could only make after reaching his artistic peak. "Minuscule" is timeless.

When I started watching this charming film, I was surprised not to see the usual list of stars who would be voicing the various parts. However, once the film got going and went to ground level I realised that there are no human stars - because there are no words. And yet I understood every conversation with no difficulty whatsoever.

This is the brilliance of this film - one which puts cgi (and not a lot of cgi really) over real filmed scenes in an effortless, flowing way to create completely believable cinematography. That is not to say the film is believable, in the same way that Tinkerbell and A Bugs Life are unbelievable. And yet it is completely riveting to watch a ladybug take a meandering, drifting, wonderfully entertaining journey to save the day for new friends.

There are no words spoken, and yet there is plenty of perfectly understandable dialogue - a mixture of toots, peeps and growls that need no translation, along with a mass of subtle and not-so-subtle sound effects. The humour of realising that the buzz flies are the insect equivalent of a motorcycle gang, and the smile at hearing the oh-so-faint sounds of sawing and hammering as the ants build their nest - these are some of what make the-film-with-the-impossibly-long-name so satisfying, even as an adult. And my children were completely engrossed and living the story along with the minuscule hero all the way through.

Great movie.

Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo wrote and directed this highly unusual French film. Although the subject matter is rather familiar (with prior CGI films like Antz and A Bug's Life), the style and content is like nothing I've ever seen before—and this is, by far the biggest strength of this cute little film. However, I must warn you that initially I hated this film, as the beginning was loud and not especially enjoyable— but keep watching…it will grow on you!

When the film begins, it begins with a normal setting out in the countryside. This is not CGI but real film. However, throughout the film the two are integrated together. When you see the world from a human's point of you, it's standard film. When it goes to the micro world of insects, the CGI is used. It's a very clever way to do the movie and it works very well. However, what did NOT work well for me were all the sound effects for the racing bugs. Using automobile sound effects seemed a bit heavy-handed and silly. Fortunately, this soon gave way to a strange sort of world where instead of voices (like you'd hear in films like A Bug's Life), you hear a combination of odd whistles and chirps. It's strange but works—especially since this makes the film much more universal than a typical animated film. There's simply no need to re-dub or caption the movie! I should also note that I did NOT see this in 3D—and assume that would have improved it…at least a bit.

The plot to Minuscule is not so childish or anthropomorphic as the other insect films I mentioned. In fact, the plot is amazingly simple. A group of black ants (along with their friend, a lady bug) find a lunch box filled with sugar and take it back to their colony. However, a group of red ants are NOT pleased—it should be their sugar and if the black ants take it, it's war!!

What follows is a very surreal war between the colonies—and the film improved tremendously. This is because all pretext for realism goes out the window and the movie really won me over! After all, MOST insect battles do not involve bugs bringing cans of insect spray, slingshots and firecrackers to the conflict! Who's going to win? See the film for yourself.

The best thing about the film is simply how different it is from everything else. Too often films are derivative and familiar—something that bores me to death. However, here the filmmakers manage to create something wholly new and clever. The CGI is lovely—and different from what you'd see from Dreamworks, Disney or Pixar. More noticeable is the music. It's almost magical and so unlike the typical child-oriented CGI film. It's instead very classically inspired and perfect for the film. Finally, the film has a cute sense of humor. While I don't think it's a comedy or is meant as one, I loved the expressions on the faces of the red ants. Despite a few slow moments here and there and the rough start, this is really a film to see. Will it appeal to little kids? Maybe not. But for older kids, teens and adults who want something different and not cloyingly sweet but still family-friendly, it's well worth seeing. Vive la différence!

I was a fan of the series Minuscule, so I was looking forward to watch this feature film. Miniscule and the Valley of the Lost Ants has the same charm, visual impact and sense of humour as the episodes of the series, but there is a well-developed story here.

A young ladybug loses track of her family and, by accident, pairs with a group of black ants trying to carry a big case of sugar cubes to their hive. There is a considerable distance, and the weight of the case makes them take a detour through the forest. The adventure commences when the aggressive red ants get interested in the treasure.

Minuscule offers a very simple story, but it is very charming and engaging. Clean universal humour, for both children and adults, for people all over the world no matter their culture. If you haven't watch the series, it will surprise you see the character bugs being just bugs, not talking humans masked as bugs. However, they are enjoyable because they feel real bugs but also have situations that are basically human.

There are so many lovely scenes in the movie, so is difficult to choose one. However, my favorite is the one involving the spider, which is adorable! And the battle of the ants is absolutely epic!

The animation is great, a mix of natural backgrounds and 3D characters fused together as one. The filming of the backgrounds is fabulous because during the walking, flying or racing scenes the viewer feels that the magnitude and movement of the background is that a bug experiences.

The sounds of the different characters are wonderful and so very funny!

Some of the things that made Minuscule the series most appealing to me were the domestic environments in which many of the bugs' stories occurred, so I would have loved a bit of that also in the movie. That is a personal preference, of course.

Personally, I thought the film could have been shortened and some unnecessary scenes edited out and the film would still be as good.

Great fun, clean humour, very entertaining.

For a movie that blends CGI with real world shots, this is a very well done venture. The landscape is very beautiful, the music is delightful and there is a serene quality to the movie that would sooth your senses in the long run. As another reviewer mentioned, there was no real point to putting up racing car sounds to flying bugs but this is brief. There is no dialogue at all so its just sit back and follow the way these bugs communicate though whistles and chirps. Its a nice tale of friendship and I have to commend the director for this innovative venture. The final war scene between the red and the black ants is hilarious so I would highly recommend watching till the end.