by MALCOLM FRASER

The latest in the unending wave of cinematic computer-animated family fun, The Ant Bully takes place in an ant colony, where wizard Zoc (voiced by Nicolas Cage) is haplessly trying to perfect a magic potion, consoled by his long-suffering girlfriend Hova (Julia Roberts). Zoc is working overtime to combat the constant threat of the Destroyer, a vicious human who delights in wreaking devastation upon the colony.

We soon get to know the Destroyer in person as young Lucas (Zach Tyler), who turns out to be a miserable little boy tormented by neighbourhood bullies. It seems his violent behaviour toward the ants is simply a display of impotent rage against the only creatures less powerful than he.

When Zoc finally perfects his potion, a dose dropped in Lucas’s ear shrinks the tyrant down to ant size, whereupon the ants kidnap him and sentence him to hard labour in the colony. There he learns the error of his destructive ways and helps the ants fight off a malicious exterminator (Paul Giamatti).

Presumably, the true value of a film like this is to what extent it entertains and educates its ankle-biting target audience. On the educational front, there’s not much here. The film’s moral lesson, that you shouldn’t torment insects or pick on the less fortunate, is certainly valid, but one would hope that parents might have already instilled this view in their kids.

As for the entertainment part of the equation, the film also comes up a bit short. Certainly the Disney films of days gone by could be overly cutesy and cloying, but that tone seems quaint compared to Ant Bully, where all the characters (except for Roberts’ Hova) are either perpetually scowling and complaining, or ugly and grotesque. The animation, for its part, is nothing special.

But don’t take it from me. I saw the film at an advance screening full of kids, and it elicited only a few laughs and a distinct lack of oohs and/or ahhs. If you have the choice, take your kid to the park instead. And if you get dragged along to see this regardless, don’t expect anything big.

The Ant Bully opens Friday, July 28

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