Bee Movie (2007)

This Movie Is About: Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfield) who just graduated from bee school with his best friend, Adam (Matthew Broderick). They are both excited to start working on the hive and contribute to the perfect working machine which hasn't taken a year off for 27 million years. Barry and Adam are ready to pick their jobs until the tour guide tells Barry that he can only pick one job for the rest of his life. Barry doesn't know what he wants to do today let alone for the rest of his life. He decides to join up with the bee jocks who collects the pollen. Once he's out, he breaks the rule and talks to a human: Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellweger). She introduces him to the human world but once Barry see's how bees are treated in the human world, he doesn't like what he sees and finds his calling in life, to put bee's back on the map. To bee or not to bee, that is the question that Barry has to answer.

You Should Watch This Movie Because: Dreamworks has a pretty good record lately with animated films and they don't break the mold with this movie. This film brings you into the wonderful world of bees and their life. Barry is a fun character there is no one better to play his role than Jerry Seinfield if you are a fan of the show then you will love Barry's character. The people around him make his character all that much better. And one he's out into the human world and begins to interact with Vanessa, things get interesting and you can say all you want about Renee Zellweger but she does a great job in playing an animated character.

What's Hot: The comedy in this movie a bit different than what you might expect from an animated film. The humor is slapstick at times, but there are some real clever moments in here that will please people of all ages. Make no mistake though. This is a kids' movie through and through, and in that, it doesn't disappoint. If your kids don't love this movie when they see the hive for the first time, then your kid is not a kid. The cute way which the bees act all add to the fun and the ending especially is pretty fantastical that it's sure to please young audiences.

What's Not Hot: This film doesn't quite live up to the high expectations set by Dreamworks from the past. The story itself is not as compelling as something like Over the Hedge and although this movie is fantastical in the fact that it's dealing with talking bees, it does cross that line of making it believable. I think the problems start when Barry leaves the hive and enters the human world which is okay, but once he starts talking to the humans, that's when everything goes down hill. I guess I'm just being picky and that I should have a more open mind, but it just seems like every animal can talk to the humans so why hasn't this story happened before? This combined with physics for the insane contribute to the scoffing of this film. There are times when you just won't accept what's going on. That's too bad because I really think film had all the ingredients to be a great film if they just focused a bit more on the hive and the people or bees in it.

Last Comments: Bee Movie doesn't live up to the hype that it generated based on Dreamworks previous successes but it doesn't disappoint that much. It has a wonderful world and even though you don't see much of the hive after the 15 minute mark, that first introduction to the hive is great and I really wish I could have seen more of that. The characters are charming and even though Barry sometimes comes off selfish and stupid at times, it just adds to his character in the end when he learns his lesson. I think that this film will be a hit and miss for many people because the type of humor is mature at times and really only appeal to people who likes Seinfield. I could be wrong about this but I didn't find this movie all that funny but I have heard otherwise. Having said all of that, this is still a great movie to take the family too and a nice alternative to all the christmas/drama movies that are coming out these days.

Breaking it Down:
Story: 6.8 (Jerry Seinfield & Spike Feresten)
Direction: 8.0 (Steve Hickner & Simon J. Smith)
Voice: 8.2
Animation: 8.5
Music/Sound: 6.0

Entertainment Value: 6.6 (not an average)