2006 narrative documentaryRating: 16/20 (Dylan: 6/20)
Plot: A colony of termites build a giant dirt castle and try to live a peaceful existence doing termite things. The queen becomes an egg-laying machine, the workers run about working, and the soldiers watch out for non-friendly neighbors. They have to survive ant attacks, fire, and flood, and through something they call Termite Power! (yes, the punctuation is required), they manage to get by. But an army of really mean ants steadily makes its way toward their home. Oh, snap!
I can't imagine how much footage of termites and ants had to be collected to construct the story that John Cusack narrates here. The images are breathtaking, otherworldly in the way it brings you right into the lives of these tiny bugs. The close-up photography is phenomenal, and the footage is often sped up to spare the viewer from having to see the action unfold in real time. Sure, some of the imagery is grotesque, especially for entomophobics, but it's amazing to see what these little creatures are capable of. For example, did you know that a buttload of ants (that's a scientific-sounding amount) can beat down a big ol' snake? Did you know that ants can form ropes and climb down each other to attack dirt castles? It seems impossible that some of these shots are even real because the shots inside this castle are just too intimate. You almost expect one of the termites to look at the camera and give the audience a dirty look. I'm still sure that one lizard that is shown a few times is an animated lizard, but Dylan told me it was the real deal. He'd know because he's part-lizard. The story itself, one of survival and adventure, is exciting and intense although it does suffer from not having a central character to root for like an animated version of this would. I'm also not sure the narration was really necessary. I think enough of the story could have been told using only the images. At the very least, it should have been Morgan Freeman. Main lesson learned: ants are kind of mean.
This was recommended by my brother, Anonymous.
5 comments:
"especially for entomophobics"
Take only as directed.
wow, never heard of this, sounds cool.
Funny. Liked the ants are mean bit. This sounds cool to me as well. I'll see if Netflix has it. Shouldn't a boy Dylan's age like this sort of thing? A 6?
I don't know why I should care about termite larva, but I did.
This is a very good nature doc, but something feels a little off. It sometimes feels staged and manipulative (since they could not have known the driver ants would attack before the fact, they must have filmed other ants), and I got really sick of that vulture. You are right about Cusack. He somehow manages to be good and bad at the same time. I did wonder if the film would have been better narrated by gruff-voiced Batman.
On the other hand, the camerawork was extrordinary and the film gives the most intimate and moving portrait of bugs that I have seen. Really amazing stuff that is very effective at proving exactly how savage and heartless nature really is. A 15.
Random sidenote: I found myself really hoping that The Octomom will be reincarnated as a termite queen.
Right, I could never figure out if I liked that they had just filmed all this stuff and then molded it into a story or if that was just fake nature or something. I thought it was a creative approach, but you're right--how did they just happen to be filming these ants as they made their way to the termite fortress? Dylan and I wondered about that.
I have another bug movie to watch soon.
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