Antz

by William Ruhlmann The entertaining animated film Antz gives composers Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell the opportunity to try a little of everything in their score, which may be why there are so many co-compositions and borrowings, whether it's "Guantanamera" set to a dance beat or "Johnny Goes Marching Home" with new lyrics and a new title, "The Antz Go Marching to War." The composers give hints of having listened to Randy Newman's whimsical scores (what do you know, another comparison to A Bug's Life), John Barry's work in the James Bond films, and lots of other things. Of course, most of the music is purely functional in a film that itself has many moods and varied episodes. Still, this makes for lively listening. It's no surprise that the executive music producer is Hans Zimmer, whose own scores are never shy about calling attention to themselves.