Bee Movie

Wilsford's Review

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Notable Characters:
Jerry Seinfeld – Barry B. Benson
Renee Zellweger – Vanessa Bloome

Plot (contains spoilers): Barry B. Benson just graduated from college and is ready to enter the workforce. Unfortunately Barry didn’t realize that the job he picks is going to be his job for the rest of his life. Beefore he chooses, he decides to take a ride with the pollen jocks (the bees that are responsible for pollination and the extraction of nectar for their honey). While flying around it starts to rain and since bees can’t fly in the rain, Barry seeks shelter in a nearby apartment. Beeing the unwanted guest that he is, one of the residents tries to kill him. In swoops Vanessa to save the day. Grateful for saving his life, Barry breaks bee law and talks to a human. After the initial weirdness, Barry and Vanessa become friends. On one of their shopping trips, Barry learns that the humans are enslaving millions of bees and stealing their honey and Barry then takes the humans to court. After the trial, the court rules in favor of the bees and mandates that the humans give back all the honey. Since now the bees have more honey than they know what to do with, they stop working. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the death of virtually all plant life which destroys the whole food chain and will eventually lead to the destruction of the world. Fortunately the Rose bowl is going on and it has collected the last surviving flowers in the world. Barry and Vanessa fly out to California and steal a Rose Bowl float. They bring the flowers back to New York, via Bee Power, and restore order to the world.

Reason why I didn’t like it:
· Corny, but then what should I expect from a kid’s movie.

Reasons why I liked it:
· Hilarious. I laughed a lot more than what I expected. If you enjoy Seinfeld’s unique brand of humor, I think you will really enjoy this movie. I should say that I haven’t seen Ratatouille. The only reason I mention that is because every time I say this movie was funny people always say, “Well it’s no Ratatouille”.
· As usual, Dreamworks produces a well animated movie.
· It was funny.

Final Note: Again I haven’t seen Ratatouille, so until then I am going to rate this movie as the best animated movie of the year.

Young's Review

Jerry Seinfeld is one the most successful comedians of his generation. Between his hugely popular 90's sitcom and his sold-out stand up tours, he has made himself into a household name. So when he attaches his name to an animated feature film, viewers will be sure to follow.

'Bee Movie', which Seinfeld helped write and produce in addition to voicing the lead character, is a worthy effort. I give it a 'thumbs up'.

Seinfeld is Barry B. Benson, a bee who longs for life outside the hive. On the day of his college graduation, he talks his way into joining the "Pollen Jocks", the group that leaves the hive daily to pollinate flowers and gather pollen to make more honey. After a series of wild adventures in the real world, Barry finds himself in the home of Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). Vanessa saves Barry from certain death at the hands of her boyfriend Ken (Patrick Warburton).

After Vanessa gets over her shock that she can actually hear Barry thanking her, the pair strike up a friendship. On a trip to the grocery store, Barry discovers a shelf full of honey. Stunned that all the work he and his fellow bees are doing is being exploited for human gain, Barry begins a journey to free all bees from a life of honey producing bondage.

The cast in this film is very good. Seinfeld is funny as Barry and Zellweger makes a charming Vanessa. The highlight of the movie is an appearance by Chris Rock as Mooseblood, a roaming mosquito. Rock has the prototypical cartoon voice and he produces multiple laugh out loud moments in his brief time on screen. Also noteworthy for a funny performance is John Goodman as prosecuting attorney Layton T. Montgomery. Cameos are abundant, including Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, Ray Liotta and (appropriately in a film about bees) Sting.

The first third of the film drags a bit and is short on big laughs. It picks up considerably from there. The animation is amazing, as is the case in all Dreamworks Studios productions. I have heard and read a lot of negative reviews of this film. It's comparison to 'Ratatouille', one of the year's best films overall and one of the best animated movies of all time, is not a fair one. Just because 'Bee Movie' is flawed doesn't make it any less entertaining. I enjoyed it, and more importantly for Dreamworks, so did my friend's second grader who saw it with us. I recommend it to kids of all ages.