“Bee Movie” is a comedy that will change everything you think you know about bees. Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice—honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bee’s honey for centuries. He ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race. That is until the ensuing chaos upsets the very balance of nature. It is up to Barry to prove that even a little bee can spell big changes in the world.There aren’t a lot of choices in a bee’s life: a bee attends a few days of school, graduates from college, and chooses a job in the hive that he’ll labor at for the rest of his life. Barry (Jerry Seinfeld) is different from his best friend Adam (Matthew Broderick) and all the other bees: he wants to see the world outside the hive and can’t begin to contemplate doing the same job for his entire life. Naturally, the life of the “pollen jock” bees appeals to Barry because it’s the only job that takes a bee outside the hive and into the larger human world. Once outside the hive, Barry breaks the most sacred bee law and speaks to a human named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger) in order to thank her for saving his life. A relationship quickly blossoms and leads Barry to the discovery that humans are stealing honey from the bees and selling it for their own profit. Vowing to hurt the humans the one place they’ll feel it, Barry brings a legal suit against the honey industry and the courtroom drama begins. There are some hysterical moments in the film, as one would expect from a Seinfeld production, and an abundance of one-liners, double-meanings, slapstick humor, and innuendo-laden dialogue that will keep adults guffawing throughout the show. Still, the whole concept of seeing the life of a common pest through non-human eyes is getting repetitive thanks to films like Ratatouille, Flushed Away, Open Season, and Over the Hedge. It should be noted, though, that this first foray into animation by Jerry Seinfeld was four years in production due to its collaborative nature, so its theme may actually have well predated all of the aforementioned films. Children ages 5 and older will love the bees’ silly antics, though many of the jokes will go right over their heads and parents should be cautioned about some mildly suggestive humor. More than just a comical film about the life of one very different honeybee, Bee Movie is a social commentary that pokes fun at human behavior while stressing the importance of doing even the most menial job well and championing the power of working together toward a common goal. There’s even a lesson to be learned from the bees about controlling one’s temper. –Tami Horiuchi
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March 5, 2010
#1
The Bee Movie has been cancelled for HD DVD Release…why does Amazon still have it available for pre-order?
March 5, 2010
#2
I ordered the Bee Movie for my Granddaughter’s birthday. It arrived about a week late. I was promised delivery before her birthday, so needless to say I am NOT pleased with the service.
March 5, 2010
#3
This is the vilest bourgeois propaganda I’ve seen in ages. Aimed directly at children, the movie argues that if oppressed workers organize and stand up for their rights, all life on earth will end. Hyperbolic even by right-wing standards!
March 5, 2010
#4
We just saw the film yesterday and although it is technically a well-made film and the story and jokes are quite okay and nice, we were totally put off by the way nature and especially bees were presented. We think that a film for kids should also try to teach them something about the beautiful nature around them and not spawn false ideas about it that will stick forever. Other animal animation film crews took care first to learn something about the animals (movements, social activities, capacities) and then teach it to their young audience. Of course it is okay to turn a hive into a fabric, every child will see the exaggeration here. But neither are there male/female families in a hive, nor can bees fly 10 km above the ground alongside a plane with 600 km/h nor do flowers die because they are not pollinated nor will random pollen be any good for other kinds of flowers. None of these really wrong things about bees was necessary for the film, the whole story would have been as fun with the correct knowledge about bees. We’re disappointed that DreamWorks didn’t make the efforts to produce a more realistic film that entertains and teaches children at the same time.
March 5, 2010
#5
The insect hero of “Bee Movie” is angry that bees are given only one job that literally works them to death. But at least bees have one reason for their existence, which is one more than “Bee Movie” has.
The film, like many feature cartoons of late, is beautifully animated emptiness. It’s lovely to look at, but then there’s that troubling little detail called a story. The P.R. mill tells us that Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks studio okayed the movie after comedian Jerry Seinfeld cutely suggested the title to Spielberg over dinner one night. It only shows that some jokes should not be told at the dinner table.
Seinfeld voice-stars as Barry B. Benson, a cog in the bee circle of life. Having gotten his bee education — four days of high school — Barry is now expected to choose his sole vocation. But surely, Barry reasons, there’s more to life than this. So one day, Barry breaks out and enters the human world.
Sadly, the one human Barry chooses to speak to is a vacuous florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). This movie labors mightily over this slightly-above-platonic relationship. But if you think recent comedies about love affairs between babes and nerds are implausible, try working up a lather about the impending love affair between a babe and an insect.
From there, the movie veers into…not even a sub-plot, more like a side-plot. Barry discovers that generations of bees have labored to produce the honey that mean old humans casually swipe for themselves. So Barry launches a lawsuit to get the bees’ honey returned to his own kind. After that, the movie veers into a pro-environmental message, which certainly has its place. But that place probably isn’t a big-budget kiddie cartoon.
Seinfeld already has a huge human following — is there some unknown bee demographic he’s trying to reach? If bees could reason, I’m sure they’d be thrilled that their story is being thoughtfully told. Me, I’m not so moved.
The movie’s tone is so desperate, the movie should have a drummer just off-screen, doing rim shots for each one-liner. Seinfeld does Barry as the type of screechily bad comic that his TV show used to lampoon. And the rest of the movie is “Flintstones”-type stuff, with cutesy jokes about workaday life, celebrity cameos (Larry King plays himself as a bee — hysterical!), and lots of bad bee puns.
Even the movie’s basic idea is a rip-off — remember DreamWorks’ “Antz” (1998), with Woody Allen as a drone ant? It’s been almost a decade since a stand-up comic made his cartoon debut as a non-conformist insect. DreamWorks, I promise, nobody will complain if you let the concept die right here.
“Bee Movie” is rated PG for minor innuendo and bathroom humor.