Richard Corliss of "Time" wrote, "The plot matures handsomely; the characters neatly converge and combust; the gags pay off with emotional resonance." Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B, saying ""A Bug's Life" may be the single most amazing film I've ever seen that I couldn't fall in love with." Paul Clinton of "CNN" wrote, ""A Bug's Life" is a perfect movie for the holidays. It contains a great upbeat message ... it's wonderful to look at ... it's wildly inventive ... and it's entertaining for both adults and kids." Michael Wilmington of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film three and a half stars out of four, and compared the movie to "Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (with a little of another art-film legend, Federico Fellini, tossed in)." where "As in "Samurai", the colony here is plagued every year by the arrival of bandits." On the contrary, Stephen Hunter of "The Washington Post" wrote, "Clever as it is, the film lacks charm. One problem: too many bugs. Second, bigger world for two purposes: to feed birds and to irk humans."