I've seen all of the animated features since Toy Story, and liked this one better than most. It's not as funny as Shrek, and overall not as good as Monsters Inc or Finding Nemo, but certainly in the better half, comparable to Cars, Ice Age, and Over The Hedge. During the first twenty minutes or so it seemed like it might offer nothing better than a series of Bee jokes, which I see has resulted in some negative reviews here. But the story develops as an allegory for frivolous lawsuits, but it's the bee who brings the frivolous lawsuit here, so it doesn't jump on the Hollywood blame-humans-first bandwagon, which is refreshing. Some of the results are predictable, some funny, but not preachy or trite. There's at least one lawyer joke that had the audience in stitches, along with several other funny jokes.
Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) is an average bee approaching adulthood, who must decide upon a job in the hive. The catch is that once he chooses his job, he must keep it for the rest of his life. Unsatisfied with the monotony of working in the hive, he ventures outside where he meets a human woman, Vanessa (Renée Zellweger), who saves his life. Indebted, he breaks the Cardinal bee rule: never talk to humans. At first Vanessa has difficulty accepting the talking bee, but the two soon spend quite a bit of time together and Barry gets overly comfortable as she reveals that she is a florist. Enamored with Vanessa, despite the interspecies barrier, Barry learns that humans have been stealing honey from bees and selling and eating it. Infuriated, he sets out to sue the honey company, with the help of Vanessa and his bee pals.
Apparently bees drive cars, they are all cousins, and they can use their antennas as cell phones. The comical world the creators have devised for the bees is perhaps the most creative aspect of the film. Many parallels reside with Barry's rebellious teen years and human childhood, as specifically referenced by a sensationally hysterical homage to The Graduate. From voting the queen bee into monarchy, to pollination, to insects on windshields and their attraction to lights, many of the typical insect behaviors are addressed and translated into humorous gags supposedly their thinking is shockingly similar to humans.
The animation (from Dreamworks, the studio that brought us Shrek) as always continues to excel in its realism, from the cartoon movements and facial expressions of the characters, to the nearly flawless reflections and refractions of the inanimate objects and background environments. Barry gets stuck to a tennis ball and batted around in slow motion, and sucked into the engine of a car: both scenes and many more are executed with amazing editing and stunning camera movement that can only be achieved in computer animation.
Hysterical character designs and voice acting also add to the fun, with jocose performances by John Goodman, Patrick Warburton, Chris Rock and even voice cameos by Michael Richards (who many joked would play the role of an Africanized bee) and Larry King as Bee Larry King. What doesn't work as well is the execution of the story. The film often contradicts itself with the reactions of the humans to talking bees, and with what Barry is capable of realistically doing as nothing more than a heavily personified insect. Some of the jokes elicit laughter, but most are on an unexpectedly low intelligence level, and ultimately the many entertaining bits are specifically aimed at younger audiences. As is often with computer animated films, visual perfection oftentimes overshadows the time spent trying to devise an enticing story, and Bee Movie falls in with the too-kid-friendly films that are quickly forgotten.
Mike Massie
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I didn't care that this movie came out as Jerry Seinfeld is sometimes overhyped as being funny, when in reality, most the time he isn't. I decided to rent this because a few other new releases were sold out at the video store. I get home, watch it and within minutes, am floored laughing. With a good message and superb humor, I went out today and bought this movie. I love it and if you appreciate cartoons with a good message, get this!Read Best Reviews of Bee Movie (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Here
It seems as though they made a list of every bee joke they could think of, and then designed a movie around it. and then, when that didn't make a movie that was long enough, they go into this whole muddled lawsuit thing. It's funny how kids seem to not like the movie when a grownup doesnt. and when the movie is well done, like cars, they love it. And no, they did not like this mess of a movie.Want Bee Movie (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) Discount?
My family & I saw this movie together and what a delight it was! I was pretty sure it would be really funny because of Jerry Seinfeld and we were not disappointed. The movie was everything you want a family movie to be it has heart, lots of laughs, some very tender, moving moments, and some underlying messages. The ending of the movie actually surprised me a little with a clever examination of our own daily lives & the meaning therein.One of the things that I particularly loved about this movie is its compassion for non-human life. It demonstrated, brilliantly, the complex & meaningful lives that non-humans (in this case bees) live, the contributions they make, which benefit all of us, and showed how interconnected we all truly are. The movie showed a person (wonderfully voiced by Renee Zellweger) treating the bee with respect, consideration and compassion and trying to teach others to do the same. Our world needs lots more of that, so I hope that movies such as this one work to get that message across and into the 'real' world, and I'm sure that they do... :)
Overall, this movie is an interesting & thought-provoking take on the life of the bees, which in many ways, can mirror our own lives, the decisions, the struggles, the highs, the disappointments, and most of all trying to figure out who we really are inside, what we are doing here, what roles we have to play & how it affects those around us...
Rai Aren
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