Bee Movie Review
by Jonathan Moya (jjmoya1955 AT yahoo DOT com)November 7th, 2007
Bee Movie (2007)
A Movie Review by Jonathan Moya
Rating: 3 out of 5 or a B
The Review:
I am glad to see that Jerry Seinfeld is ready to get back to work. Doing American Express commercials with Superman and being a standup guy isn't as rewarding as it once was. Ah, to be a drone again and to punch that old clock! The stuff of Jerry's dreams- but not mine.
In Bee Movie the newly matriculated worker bugs choose the dead-end jobs they will be doing for the rest of their lives from a flap display of appealing positions ranging from crud picker to regurgitator. The good spots like pollen collector are inherited positions with a twenty-seven million year waiting list.
Technically, they are not bees, not even insects- though they are black and yellow and fly, and exhibit a collective hive mentality. They are a weird hybrid that has four legs instead of the normal six and speak with the chipper high tones of those taking antidepressants. The parents worry whether their children are still being "Beeish" and not dating wasps.
Everyday life in the hive is a Rube Goldberg conglomeration of ladles, scoops and tubes coated in a purple and golden aura-- an endless theme park ride to keep the bees working and amused.
And everyone is, except for Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld), a maverick Bee who dreams of seeing life outside the hive. On a dare he is able to fly along with a squadron of pollen jocks, the only bees allowed to leave the hive.
He finds a friend when a rainstorm causes Barry to break formation and seek shelter in the window box belonging to Vanessa (Renée Zellwegger), a quirky big-hearted Manhattan florist, who saves him from being mashed under the winter boots of her dim bulb tennis partner Ken (Patrick Warburton).
Barry is smitten and she is curiously amused-and the two prattle around the city taking in the sights.
That is until one day in a grocery store he stumbles upon a secret that shatters him. Rows and rows of golden honey stocked neatly to the ceiling plastered with Ray Liotta's face- and all marked 50 % off. The bees are slaves to the hu-"man", and all their work just serves their sweet cravings.
"This is stealing. A lot of stealing," Barry screams in dismay. "You have taken our homes, our schools, our hospitals. This is all we have. And it's on sale!"
Barry decides to sue the human race for the misappropriation of the bee's labor. And he wins. But there are disastrous side effects-all the flowers, vegetables and trees start to die. And soon even the bees themselves. But take heart, this is a family movie, and family movies don't end in ecological disaster.
The collective hive mentality of Bee Movie, forces the plot to jump through so many illogical hoops that Bee Movie almost stings itself to death. Parents may want to give their children two spoonfuls of sugar and one of honey less they prattle on about being a crud picker, regurgitator or mite wrangler to the end of their dyeing days. It is nice for children to have a fall back position, but to fall back so low, well. . .
I suspect that some children are going to be thinking dirty job for eternity or dope fiend--- and choosing dope fiend. In that case, parents would be advised to take their kids to see American Gangster playing in theater twelve next door, because "Bee"-ing yourself here clearly means the end of the world.
Even being an animated bee is a stretch for Jerry Seinfeld. Being Jerry worked in Seinfeld because he was free to sit back and be the straight man to a more talented cast. The show was deliberately episodic and about nothing for a reason- the man was a lousy actor. In longer doses he was sweaty, uncomfortable and almost insufferable.
In Bee Movie Seinfeld is just uncomfortable. The timing of his jokes just hang in the air. They don't buzz.
The screenplay written by Seinfeld and Seinfeld scribes and friends Barry Marder, Spike Feresten and Andy Robin is three half-hour episodes uneasily waxed together with as much bee foolery, bee facts, and cautionary wisdom about their necessary ecologic role as the audience can stand. Bee Movie is at it best when it is nothing more than friends hanging around and shooting the breeze-- just a Seinfeld episode.
The bits between Barry and Vanessa, and his fellow hive mate Adam (Matthew Broderick) are loaded with chummy repartee. Chris Rocks throwaway barbs as a mosquito named Mooseblood, Barry's temporary traveler splattered on the windshield of life zing with the survival comedy of people in the same mess. "Why do you people have to be so god dumb clean," he cries. "How much do you people need to see. Open your eyes. Stick your head out the window." A life mantra if there ever was one.
The last two-thirds of Bee Movie wiggle in honey righteousness. The court case and the ecologic disaster that results have all the fun and excitement of being in bed with the hives. The more it scratches the messier it gets.
The directors Steve Hickner (Prince of Egypt) and Simon J. Smith (the Shrek 4-D attraction at Universal Orlando) give the images a hypnotic lushness and a pacing that swarms with pheromone acuity. The sags never show because Bee Movie is always busy setting up the next big set piece. The best animated montage I have seen this year is Barry's introduction to the outside world: a kaleidoscope of green nature that floats into the cool pastels of box kites floating high on a breeze.
The blitzkrieg of Bee Movie ads on NBC primetime (Jerry's old network) has the smell of a sitcom deal waiting to be announced between Jerry and the peacock network. Why else would NBC air such unfunny stuff?
Bee Movie never quite lives p to its own buzz, but then it is just a B-movie.
It gets a B, of course.
The Credits:
Directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner; written by Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder and Andy Robin; head of character animation, Fabio Lignini; edited by Nick Fletcher; music by Rupert Gregson-Williams; production designer, Alex McDowell; produced by Mr. Seinfeld and Christina Steinberg; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 100 minutes.
WITH THE VOICES OF: Jerry Seinfeld (Barry B. Benson), Renée Zellweger (Vanessa), Matthew Broderick (Adam Flayman), John Goodman (Layton T. Montgomery), Chris Rock (Mooseblood), Patrick Warburton (Ken), Larry King (Bee Larry King), Ray Liotta (himself) and Sting (himself).
"Bee Movie" is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). A few scary moments and mild hints about, er, the birds and the bees.
Copyright 2007 by Jonathan Moya
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