In Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants, the remains of a picnic in a peaceful forest trigger a ruthless war between two tribes of ants!
Upon birth, the tiniest and the bravest ladybird takes off alone to disc
over the forest. Very soon, he encounters a gang of flies and falls into a crevasse.
Wounded, the ladybird starts to wander, and finally finds refuge in remains of a picnic. He soon befriends one of the black ants, Mandible, and helps him save his anthill from the assault of terrible red ant warriors, led by the fearsome Butor.
The two warring factions battle over the prize of the precious sugar box.
All this is merely the beginning of an epic adventure not unlike The Lord of the Rings, albeit at very low ground.
Exceptional Natural Backdrop
The film immerses audiences in an authentic natural environment in the heart of the Mercantour and Ecrins National Parks in southern France. In fact, an opening montage of breathtaking forest landscape sets the scene for this animated bug saga.
The natural setting reveals more magic as it changes from prairies and waterfalls to the dense forest that extends to entire valleys,
all in an infinite palette of colours and shapes.
Credit must go to the filmmakers for their hard work to capture such natural splendour on screen.
Dialogue-free, Magical World of Minuscule
The mostly-insect cast barely opens its mouths and hardly makes facial expressions. They do, however, gleefully toot funny noises that can sometimes be quite adorable.
How is the movie going to sustain our interest throughout without the chatter that we’re used to? Well, we must say it is quite the visual spectacle, and the multi-legged characters can be quite endearing.
With the protagonists set in handsome outdoor footage of France, writers-directors Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud have created a world that’s neither entirely fake nor completely real; while using a simple yet quirky narrative to engage audiences.
Furthermore, the close-up photography is so well-done that you’d want to reach out and touch the ladybugs flying in mid-air. The entire product leaves you marvelling over how the filmmakers managed to pull it off so beautifully.
While the insects might be familiar to some audiences of the original TV series, the film is perfectly fine for moviegoers who will be discovering the world of Minuscule for the first time.
This unlikely, sweetly-told tale of friendship and adventure in the insect world promises to be entertaining and irresistible for the young and old. Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants is one for the family.
Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants [G]
DIRECTORS: Thomas Szabo & Hélène Giraud
GENRE: Adventure, Animation & Family
RUN LENGTH: 89 min
RELEASE: 24 Jul
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