Bee Movie (Widescreen Edition) Reviews

• To Bee or not to Bee

  
  By A37PV5GMP2ILJC on 2007-11-17
  I thought that I would never see
  A movie based upon a bee
  
  The penguins really had their day
  But now there's not much more to say
  
  So Jerry thought he'd do his thing
  For busy bees that work and sting
  
  Extremely funny at the start
  But by the end it lost the art
  
  Not even Renée could revive
  A movie that just failed to thrive
  
  
  I really enjoyed the beginning of this movie, with Barry Bee Benson (Seinfeld) graduating after days and days of college, and getting his first taste of the workings of the hive with his friend Adam (Matthew Broderick). After being told by the tour guide (Megan Mullally) that his first job will also be his last, he decides to take a look at the world outside the hive, and then the movie begins to go into decline.
  
  While on a routine pollen excursion, he has a close encounter with humans that prompts him to break a basic bee rule of keeping your mouth shut, and before long he's ingesting caffeine with a florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger) and chatting his way into an inter-species relationship. One day, he discovers that humans have been harvesting honey in larger quantities than roaming bears have ever managed to gather, and decides to take the players in the honey industry to court.
  
  One kangaroo court case later, with Judge Oprah presiding, the movie reaches the bottom of the hive with an absolutely mind-bogglingly ridiculous grand finale that will give you an uncontrollable case of the "WHAT????'s"
  
  Sure, there are lots of funny one-liners and sight gags, and inside jokes, and lawyer jokes and innuendo, as well as a message about the importance of every individual to the big picture and the rewards of hard work, but overall, the movie boils down to "Oh, Jerry, where is your victory? Bee Movie, where is your sting?"
  
  
  
  
  
  Amanda Richards, November 17, 2007
  
  
  

• Fun with fresh message.

  
  By A2JYIDH7JIG48H on 2007-11-03
  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.
  
  

• BEE MOVIE I GIVE IT A................B!

  
  By A1ER6IYOMM8VCT on 2008-05-18
  I love animated movies and Bee Movie really doesn't disappoint. It's a solid film with a lot of "in" jokes and beautiful animation. The cast is great, the story is solid, the animation is excellent, so why not an A? The film does seem longer than it's 89 minute running lenth considering 9 of those minutes are credits! The animation while "BEE"utiful is really plain by today's standards and the film seems to run out of steam halfway though. It's still well worth seeing and the single disc version has enough extras to keep me happy and it won't "sting" you pocket book like the two disc one.
  
  

• Beeing and Nothingness

  
  By A192KEPM0HW6AC on 2007-11-03
  If you are looking for proof that Jerry Seinfeld is the most overrated, most obnoxious and most boring "comedian" on the planet, then go see this alleged "kids" animated movie. I did not know Seinfeld was in it, so when I took my two year old toddler son to the movies, I chose this, because I thought it would be suitable for him.
  
  Now, my boy has a great attention span for someone so young: He was under two years old (22 months), when I took him to see "Ratatouille." He sat in his theater seat, eyes transfixed on the screen the whole time. When he watches "The Incredibles" and "Over the Hedge," you can't pull him away from the television screen.
  
  This one? Thank God he got my genes, because he was twitchy, whiney, and distracted. I kept having to drag him to the concessions stand, or for a walk around the theater lobby area. We caught some of the ending of this movie, which involves politically correct trashing of humans when Jerry Seinfeld's character sues the human race for filching the honey and royal jelly the hapless bees worked so hard to produce.
  
  Geez. That's a surprise: A kid's movie with a hidden environmentalist agenda.
  
  Yawn.
  
  Not wanting to be ripped off, I took my boy to another screen in the multiplex to watch the Western flick "3:10 to Yuma." My boy was his old self again. He loved watching the action and the gunfight at the end had him pointing at the screen, really got his attention.
  
  Renee Zellweger: Do you really need to be so desperate as to have been cast in this schlock?
  
  It's time to hang Jerry Seinfeld upside down from a tree and stick a fork in him:
  
  Like his fellow untalented "comedian" Michael Richards, he's done.
  
  

• Ratatouille this is not

  
  By AWUE3Z34JKCJP on 2007-11-01
  If you're looking for an animated movie that's smart and that will appeal to adults as well as children, stay away from Bee Movie. I was invited to a screening and the predominant reaction in the audience to the profoundly predictable plot and very lame jokes was silence. Very eloquent silence.
  
  I guess Jerry Seinfeld needs Larry David in order to be funny, but fans of the sitcom about nothing will be sorely disappointed. I just hope Renee Zellweger got paid lots of money for her participation in Bee Movie. Otherwise, what's the point of her selling out?
  
  
• "Bee Movie"
  By AGCJDJH2CTDD9 on 2007-11-03
  Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld), a bee who graduated from college, isn't enjoying his new adult life. He's forced to make honey for the rest of his life, and his parents (Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson) and friend Adam (Matthew Broderick) aren't giving him much encouragement. Disillusioned, he joins a pollen jock bees, and in the middle of a roundabout, he gets lost from the rest of the gang. It turns out to be good, however, as he makes friends with kind-hearted florist Vanessa Blume (Renee Zellweggar). However, this also presents Barry with a scary truth: humans are stealing honey from the bees and selling it for their own profit. Now, along with Vanessa, Barry hopes to fight a menacing D.A. (John Goodman) and reclaim the bees' source of life.
  
  I sort of agree with a small number of critics that "Bee Movie" may not be a grandstanding breakthrough of an animated comedy. It's taking the "Shrek" formula by mixing in un-PC humor (with jokes that I'm surprised even got past the censors), a gorgeous 3D environment, a huge star wattage (with Larry King, Ray Liotta, and Sting making cameos), and a score from frequent Dreamworks composer Rupert-Gregson Williams, but not doing too much. This is a very good movie, but with Jerry Seinfeld (who also produces) a solid comedian who usually comes in balls out, willing to hit the jugular, "Bee Movie" sort of has him on a leash.
  
  Still, it's hard to deny a film that isn't overstuffed with family-friendly moralizing to please the simple-minded. Even though you'll have to sit through the first quarters of the film hearing agonizing, half-baked bee puns, "Bee Movie" has plenty of good gags here and there. Whether it's Barry imagining a date with Vanessa, riding a bouncing tennis ball, or going against the court and talking to various celebrities mentioned above, the stuff is safe, but deserves credit for its creative originality. Think of it as an Amanda Bynes film if it was animated, and it had Seinfeld.
  
  Speaking of the comedian, Seinfeld does a really good job in his first leading role. The material isn't meaty, but Seinfeld has plenty of energy and determination in his attempts to make lemons out of lemonade. And he recieves good company in the form of Renee Zellweggar, whose reliable sweetness and charisma counteracts any formulaic story devices. Both of these talents always brighten up the atmosphere in case it reaches for bottom-of-the-barrel animated comedy cliches.
  
  I did wish the side cast was given meatier material, however. There's some solid work from Matthew Broderick, Chris Rock, and Patrick Warburton. But it seems like the creators feel like letting audiences play "spot-the-celebrity", with limited appearances from Kathy Bates, John Goodman, David Herman, Barry Levinson (following Martin Scorcese's foots from "Shark Tale" as another director looking to broaden his plate) Megan Mullaly, Michael Richards, Oprah Winfrey, and many more. I was surprised they didn't squeeze Uma Thurman in there (actually, she was going to appear in the movie, along with "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Colin Quinn).
  
  "Bee Movie" is competent entertainment, and I could pass the shortcomings. Seinfeld, while not impressive, manages to make a competent enough debut in his leading man role. And it's not crappy. It's just a shame that, after being wowed by solid films like "Surf's Up" and "The Simpsons Movie", it's a shame this film didn't have more bite.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By AMPTUVYLEH4T8 on 2007-11-18
  This movie goes nowhere and it takes a while to get there. My kids and I went to the theater; I didn't laugh and they didn't laugh. In fact out of an entire theater only one lady laughed out loud; she only did that once or twice and I think she was drunk. At least I know I don't need to buy the DVD.
  
  Jerry Seinfeld is one of the top two comedians of our time but his humor and writing just don't fit well with a child's genre. It makes sense after I've seen the movie, Jerry's humor is very adult; double entendres, innuendos and misunderstandings of mature subjects. It sounds like on of the Shrek movies but the Seinfelf humor just didn't translate into animated laughs. Some of it seems as if he was trying to be funny by committee. All of the jokes, puns and physical comedy must have been pasteurized and homogenized by a group of executives.
  
  The really disappointing thing is that they've been working on this movie for years, promoting it for at least 2 years and it's DOA. They had the opportunity to really entertain, but in my opinion they had too many cooks in the kitchen.
  
  Other reviewers have given away the story line so I won't bother, however I will say that the direction it starts out on is `self-discovery' and eventually gets back to that in the end. And it is nice to see that the misconception some have; that MAN is not a part of nature, is somewhat dispelled in this movie.
  
  I really wanted to like this movie too. I love animated movies and I love Jerry Seinfeld but this movie actually combined the worst of the genre and the comedian. It just didn't work, sorry Jerry.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By AOCP5SS7DFB09 on 2007-11-18
  Boredom is the only word that describes this movie's effect on me, my husband, and our ten-year-old grandson. The writing was occasionally clever, but overall nothing held our interest. My grandson and I laughed a few (very few) times. My husband fell asleep. Maybe I expected too much, but nothing in the film was memorable. The animation was good, of course, but the movie did not succeed even in the realm of simple entertainment.
  
  
• 'Bee Movie is an A' - Highly dubious...
  By ABZ2V15RLXN9A on 2008-03-14
  This marks the first time Dreamworks animation has let me down. I believe the purpose of fictional films is to have people 'temporarily suspend their disbelief,' but in this film, things just went from unbelievable to ludicrous. The movie would've been fine if it had followed the idea of Barry's wish to fly and explore or whatever, to rebel against the natural order of bees. At first, I thought the film was heading in a similar plot line to Antz which I thought would've been lazy, but after watching the film all the way through, I think following such a plot would've been better off. What I really disliked about this movie's structure is its quick jump away from a sensible plot. Out of impulse, Barry decides to go gather pollen. I found it odd that none of the bees questioned this 'unnatural' behavior and the flyers that appeared to be the 'bully' type in an earlier scene never really follow through on their supposed character. In fact that whole scene with Barry lying to the girl bees about his flying experience should have been deleted as it added nothing to the plot. Next comes a plot involving Barry falling in love with a human woman; bad? yes! Still, the plot changes again for the worst when Barry who apparently knows about coffee, learns that humans are selling honey in stores. Now he boldly states that he plans to sue the human race; ridiculous? Yes! At this point, I told myself, OK, this bee is just making a rash claim. Sadly, I was wrong; not only does he follow through, but his human friend actually helps him and what's more, the humans actually do have a trial for this bee. Suddenly it is perfectly natural for a bee to talk and sue people. Another note I'd like to make is how simple they make it for bees to talk to humans. All they have to do is address them, no clever explanation as to why they avoid talking to humans or how they came to learn the English language never mind the fact that they should really have to shout to be heard with such tiny bodies. Now I understand the movie's fictional and with that I can forgive some unbelievable events presented in the movie, but there is a limit as to how far I will accept it. That point was reached when they held trial for the bee and it was crossed by a mile when a group of bees managed to lift a plane. From the beginning of the whole lawsuit and onwards I kept telling myself that the bee was dreaming all of this nonsense and would wake up eventually... he never woke up. Even a kid's movie should have some credible story structure to capture an audience without them scoffing and muttering 'ludicrous' or 'completely unbelievable.' This movie was just a bunch of nonsense. I have heard great things about Seinfeld, but this movie is hands down the worst Dreamworks animation I've seen. So, to conclude, if you're looking for a movie with a story similar to Antz or A Bug's Life, do not choose this film for there is no real story, just a bunch of nonsense. However, if you like nonsense, this is right up your alley.
  
  
• More like Z Movie
  By A30VR8MH9VKA3Z on 2007-12-30
  Has everyone lost their minds these days? Just because this movie was written and voiced by Jerry Seinfeld doesn't mean we have to think this movie would be first of all brilliant and second of all funny. I can confidently say this movie was neither of those. All I found it to be was a bad attempt at comedy with desperate one liners, which strongly resembled the comedy from the last horrible season of Seinfeld's show. But I guess the quality of movie's are slipping but at least the public has once again managed to fill up Seinfeld's {hard to fit anything else in there) wallet. Wake up people this movie was trash!!
  
  
• Bee Movie Gets a C From Me
  By A2I6MHMAZZDCRX on 2008-03-11
  Our story centers on Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld). He is a young bee ready to graduate from school. And boy, were those nine days hard. At least he had a perfect B average. He and his classmates are given their orientation at Honex, where they will choose their jobs for life.
  
  But Barry isn't ready for that. And the idea of doing one thing for the rest of his life doesn't excite him. So he slips in with the pollen brigade for one trip outside the hive first. It's a wonderful place with colors and flowers and fun.
  
  While outside the hive, he meets Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). He breaks bee rules and speaks to her. The two soon strike up a friendship and Barry even develops a crush. But a trip to the grocery store upsets Barry when he finds the row of honey. So he decides to sue the human race to get the stolen honey back. Will he win?
  
  When I saw this movie in the theater, most of the laughter was coming from the adults, not the kids. And this was a Saturday matinee full of youngsters. But even the adults didn't laugh as much as I thought they would. While the jokes about the bee life span and the bee society like ours were funny, once Barry left the hive, everything felt old and recycled.
  
  The plot wasn't much better. While one plot point followed another, it felt like it rambled and wandered. I did like the ending, but the journey there was rather unfocused.
  
  Now that's not a knock on the voice cast. Filled with top notch actors, they did a great job. In fact, I didn't recognize most of them until I looked at the credits. The animation is stylized, so it isn't as realistic looking as many of today's films. Still, it is fine and the flying sequences are lots of fun.
  
  I laughed, but not as much as I expected to. I didn't hate the film, but I'm not rushing out to buy it either. You certainly won't be missing much if you wait a few months until the price on this one starts dropping as it heads for the bargain bin.
  
  
• Rene Zellweger looking her most "suggestive" yet ...
  By A10C5CJK1YKGV0 on 2008-06-21
  
  I rarely, if ever, notice what MPAA Rating a film has received as it is something I have NEVER had to worry about. I used to go to drive-in movies to watch The Exorcist and The Omen when I was but a fragile fawn in the woods collecting twigs. But when I saw that it was rated PG for 'mildly suggestive humor', it caught my attention. I thought: That's something you don't see everyday.
  
  So, maybe it was the scenes where the angle of the viewers perspective was beneath the beautiful young girl's long legs and curvaceous body with that short, short skirt and her huge blinking eyes and wry smile. Maybe it was the many slick references to The Graduate. I was a little too reminded of all the much-more suggestive Japanese Anime that I've ingested in the last decade watching the first fifteen minutes. I guess at some point, the inclusion of "suggestive" material would have to happen to mainstream Western animation, too. We export so much "suggestive" and "explicit" material, it goes without saying that even a Dreamworks movie would someday co-opt a little of that market as well. For that, I guess as a thirty-something -- I'm thankful. I've never seen Renee Zellweger looking so trim and glowing and 'come hither'. Being a married man and having to understand the basic frailties of my wife and the way she looks, I'm sure Renee was probably intensely satisfied with her characters appearance as well. It was a highlight, even if they put most of the suggestive material on the front-end of the movie.
  
  The second half of the movie then turns into a message-driven cautionary tale about Mankind's exploitation of bees, which is probably a long time coming and a good message for kids. I can understand the frustration of one reviewer, seeing that he's a bee farmer and that the film wasn't "correct" in all its descriptions of a real bee's life and the nomenclature of its existence. But the truth is, even if you do get your bread and butter from bee farming, being socially aware of our impact on the world of bees is a good message, no matter how you slice it. And, oh yeah, I think we all know that bees don't speak English (or Spanish), don't sip latte's, wear sweaters or study legal documents and seek to litigate for labor law violations and community infraction.
  
  I laughed out loud and followed this movie in rapt attention from beginning to end as did my wife, who couldn't help saying that "it's so cute" numerous times. I was very impressed with this and will probably watch it again, adding it to the short-list of animated films that I keep out for repeat viewing.
  
  And anybody that can work in an angle to put Sting on the witness stand and give him a lecture about his nom de plume has my vote ... very funny stuff. Gord Lord ... Gordon Sumner!
  
  
• Getting Honey for Nothing
  By A18G7GG53G2X8A on 2007-11-02
  "Bee Movie" is an adult satire trapped in a kid's cartoon, a combination that's bad for adults and even worse for kids. I guarantee you that anyone under the age of ten will not understand this movie; it relies mostly on verbal humor, most of which consists of pop culture references, work-related puns, and backhanded political references. Yes, this material had the potential to be very funny, and I'm sure it would have been were it not used in a family-oriented animated film. Unfortunately, it was. This is one of the year's most disappointing films, unable to decide which audience to connect with and unwilling to balance it's material. This is a shame because it actually gets off to a promising start, presenting an amusing, brightly colored story with interesting characters. But it soon goes downhill, and it goes hard.
  
  The plot focuses on Barry B. Benson (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld), a worker bee ready to enter his hive's workforce. As you might expect, work revolves around the creation and distribution of honey, a product so labor-intensive that it requires many job positions. There are literally dozens of jobs attached to honey making: one could be a Crud Picker, or a Stirrer, or a Pollen Jockey. One could even wear a tiny rubber finger and use it to scrape the last drop of honey from a container--this is the job that Barry's best friend, Adam (Matthew Broderick), hopes to get. Barry is not all that excited about getting a job, simply because he's not ready to settle into that lifestyle. This desire only gets stronger when he learns that, once a bee picks a job, he or she has to stick with it for life. "One job?" he asks a tour guide. "Are you trying to work us to death?" "We certainly hope so!" the guide enthusiastically responds.
  
  And that's when Barry decides to sneak out of the hive with the Pollen Jockeys. Upon his entering the outside world, we learn that his hive is located in New York City's Central Park. We also learn of the one cardinal rule all bees must follow: They must never speak directly to humans. Barry goes along with what he's told ... until he finds himself trapped in an apartment. A kind-hearted florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger) saves him from her loud-mouthed husband, Ken (Patrick Warburton), who was ready to use a heavy-duty work boot as a swatter. Thus begins an unlikely friendship between a human and a bee, a friendship that conveniently overlooks even the simplest of logical ideas. Even in an animated film, how would a bee be able to drink coffee? How would a bee even know what coffee is?
  
  When Barry accompanies Vanessa to the supermarket, he's shocked to discover that honey is mass-produced and sold to humans. He finds this incredibly unfair: Why should humans be able to enjoy a product that bees work so hard to make? But this isn't half as bad as the discovery of a honey farm, which not only houses bees in deplorable conditions, but also subjects them to periodic drugging. In an unprecedented (and nonsensical) legal move, Barry decides to sue the human race for infringing the lives of bees. He hopes to make any honey-related uses illegal, such as in teas, lip balms, and bath products.
  
  And that's pretty much when the film loses its way. The last third goes beyond the limits of suspension of disbelief, getting increasingly more ridiculous until it's no longer bearable. Not that it was easy to suspend disbelief at the start--I found it hard to invest in a bee/human relationship, especially since obvious communication problems like voice volume and language aren't even alluded to. Insect purists will be disappointed that a queen bee is never introduced, even when issues regarding family relations are brought up. As you may know, queen bees lay all the eggs of a hive, meaning that all the workers are related; Barry seems to understand this, yet his character is still given his own parents. Does this make any sense at all?
  
  If there is anything redeeming about "Bee Movie," it's the slew of special guest voices, all of which add a much-needed dose of relatable humor. Oprah Winfrey lends her voice to the trial judge, while John Goodman lends his voice to the attorney representing the Honey Industry. Kathy Bates and Barry Levinson voice Barry's parents. Larry King voices a bee version of himself--Barry is quick to point out that the humans have a Larry King, who also sits behind a desk while wearing suspenders. Chris Rock voices a mosquito that wants to go to Alaska for moose blood (interestingly, this character is named Mooseblood). Sting and Ray Liotta voice themselves: the former is questioned for using an ill-fitting stage name; the latter is questioned for lending his name to a brand of honey.
  
  I also appreciated the playful reinterpretation of the DreamWorks Animation logo. Normally, the logo will display a boy floating up to a crescent moon via a bunch of balloons. For "Bee Movie," Barry stings the boy before he reaches the moon, causing him to release the balloons and fall off screen. If only the rest of the film had maintained this kind of humor, the kind that both children and adults can enjoy. As I see it, a screenplay co-written by Jerry Seinfeld is not appropriate for an animated film, least of all an animated film geared towards younger audiences; his sense of humor is far too intellectual. This is also a problem for adults, who will only be distracted by the cartoon world these characters inhabit. Ultimately, I don't see how this movie can resonate with any audience; it's about as difficult to understand as the natural process of pollination.
  
  
• Improbable, Unmemorable Failure.
  By A1NHL95CG95DXE on 2008-03-30
  ***** THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS *****
  Wow. This was...amazing. I don't know why people love this movie. There was so much wrong with this.
  1. Factual errors. Now, someone before me said that it's the FEMALE bees who work, not the MALES as we see in so much abundance here. I don't care if the movie is about animated talking bees, I still expect some amount of realism and facts. Bees sting and don't die, they use machines to get nectar, they have four legs...the list goes on. And they aren't bees--they're miniature humans in bee costumes. If you think about it, it's true. They have cars, jobs, humanoid faces, even Larry King! Later on, Barry talks about coffee. Um...coffee?
  2. The storyline. None of the plots or side-plots or whatever are any good. Barry doesn't want a lifelong job, and no one questions this. He leaves the hive, meets a girl, sees humans have been taking their honey and sues the world. It is completely illogical, captain! Why did the court even accept the form? To an outsider it's nonsense. Then everyone accepts talking bees, sides with Barry himself, despite this is something that's been going on for I don't know how long. And apparantly, the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD sides with the bees. What is the message behind this? Humans are evil for getting food? That's how it makes us out--the beekeepers brag about bees "making the honey while we get the money." Barry later says they live off two cups of honey BUT, they have swimming pools. It's like saying you have only a few gallons of water left and demanding a quick shower. And what's with the world dying, eh? And they shot WINNIE-THE-POOH! This and more is just too much belief for me to suspend!
  3. Vanessa. This romance plotline between Vanessa the florist and Barry is really unbelievable. He is a BUG falling for a HUMAN, and she's hankerin' for him too! She accepts a talking bee suprisingly fast, making me wonder if the Mosquito hasn't gotten to her, too. Then, many people suggest him and her either making out or that comment by the lawyer about "bed bugs." This is pretty adult stuff for a kid's movie, not to mention weird. Please pardon this comment, but how could a bee make out with a human woman, let alone give her a good time? Seems to me Vanessa's boyfriend is the smartest of the bunch--he's allergic to bees, so he wants to kill it. I would too. Allergies can be serious! Then he finds out it's cheating on his girlfriend. I admit he was a little violent about it, but I would be pretty pissed too if I was him.
  All this amounts to a pretty poor movie. The jokes are unfunny, so me and my friend had to amuse ourselves with our own. The animation is fantastic, sure, but that isn't everything. It's biggest flaw lies in it's unforgettability, because it's such an empty movie. It's so forgettable, it doesn't amount to any of the previous bug-centered movies at all, like Bugs Life or even Antz. I don't care if it's Jerry Seinfeld, I don't like him, and frankly, this movie fails on loads of marks. Just skip this stinker and move on.
  
  
• Decent movie, barely 4 stars
  By A3HS5U2UUSQP0N on 2007-11-18
  Well my wife wanted to see "Bee Movie" last night. So there I was hand in hand with my bride walking up to the ticket booth just to get striped of 20 dollars of my hard earned money. I really didn't expect too much from this movie. Oddly, this movie performed above my expectations (which is why I'm inclined to give it three stars). Although the movie is slow in spots, misses on it's humor on more than one occasion, and subjects the audience to Jerry Seinfeld's voice it still out performed itself.
  
  The positives of the movie are that it has what I will call it's "enjoyable" moments. For example, Chris Rock plays a mosquito and at the end of the movie works as a lawyer. I also think most children will enjoy the movie. In the end I'm not sad I saw the movie. However, it's definately a wait until it comes out on DVD flick.
  
  
• The Bee Movie
  By AXVKMYWNIHK7W on 2007-12-01
  We took our kids to see this movie and they all loved it. I liked it because they didn't include sexual innuendos like the Shrek movies I've seen. That always makes me angry that this type (sexual innuendos) of writing has to be included in what is supposed to be a children's movie. Anyway, this movie is great for small children as well as bigger kids. The jokes are funny, and my kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Although at one point it seemed rather weird that a bee can sue humans, it all fell into place in the end. We all have to realize that this is animation, not real life, so no real life acting should be portrayed. They all did a wonderful jobs doing their parts, especially Jerry Seinfeld. Well done! I will be buying this when it comes out.
  
  
• MALE worker bees? Not!
  By A42D4CTJ369RE on 2008-02-06
  Maybe I missed something, but I didn't notice a single reviewer point out the most obvious flaw in this movie: ALL worker bees are FEMALE, not male. Male bees are drones who DO NOT fly away from the hive to collect nectar or pollen. ONLY female worker bees do that. Drones stay in the hive and are fed and cared for by FEMALE worker bees, who also do all the other work in and out of the hive. The male drones' sole--ie, ONLY--function in life is to fly into the air and mate with new queens, after which they die. The only way this bizarre tale could have worked would be for a FEMALE worker bee to play the Seinfeld character, fall in love with a MALE human, then discover how humans are exploiting bees. This is what happens when story and screenplay writers and directors and studio personnel fail to do their homework. It's called research, folks, and it's essential to avoiding ludicrous situations like having MALE worker bees! Maybe Seinfeld could have played a real MALE person and Renee Zellweger could have played a real FEMALE worker bee who fell in love with him. Despite the other obvious flaws in this film, and they are many, at least the movie would have been biologically and scientifically correct.
  
  
• Cancelled!
  By AWG3AZU96GRHM on 2008-03-02
  The Bee Movie has been cancelled for HD DVD Release...why does Amazon still have it available for pre-order?
  
  
• It's an adorable movie for kids - adults will enjoy most of it
  By A3IKLTT9JQACCI on 2008-03-16
  This is an adorable movie that made me laugh out loud on several occasions. It starts pretty strong with good clean humor that was above my 6 year olds head, although he enjoyed it for different reasons than I did.
  
  Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger give stellar voice performances. Jerry's his usual comical self, but it's Renee who really impressed with her expressive talents. There are several fun cameos - Oprah offers her voice as a judge, Megan Mullaly takes us on a tour of the Honey Factory, and Chris Rock is a misquito "Mooseblood" to name a few.
  
  The movie has some fantastic messages for both kids and adults. Think outside the box, take chances, find yourself, and also explains the importance of bees and their function on earth. My son enjoyed learning about the distribution of pollen, nectar and how bees make honey.
  
  It drags a few times in the court scenes, but revives itself before the ending. And by dragging I'm talking minor speedbumps.
  
  The music is enjoyable and kids will love watching the bees take flight and traveling along with them. It's great for both boys and girls.
  
  
  
  
• BEE-lieve It!
  By A6J7UPYUI96XO on 2007-11-02
  Rarely does a comedy incorporate so many significant themes into a children's animation. Mostly this is a movie for kids, with a cuteness and tender quality that Seinfeld never showed on the sitcom. Nearly every scene is touched with a flair of brilliance, and this shows what a remarkable figure that Jerry Seinfeld is, never curses or uses bodily functions in his stand-up material, he is all class and doesn't settle for low-grade humor like the raunchy innuendos that litter the script of the vastly overrated "Shrek" trilogy. Obviously there are references to climate change here, so be warned that some reviewers might be a little biased. Not that this movie is "An Inconvenient Truth" because it is not, it is totally a children's movie that is entertaining to the extreme. It is not to the point where you will be bent over laughing hysterically, but what children's movie is like that, anyway? What is evident here is that Jerry Seinfeld is capable of delivering a movie that reaches everyone. The people who like a film that makes them think a little, laugh a little, and stays with you after you leave the theatre will love this. You don't even have to really get Jerry's humor to enjoy this film. This is a rarity because it lives up to all the hype, and in a world where they are making 4 "Saw" films and remaking every movie that ever hit the screen, it is truly a breath of fresh air to see something original. Check it out....believe all the BUZZ this movie is something spacial.
  
  
• Bee Movie Review
  By A2MYUI8IT6UBUU on 2007-11-08
  Jerry Seinfeld has been away from the spotlight for some time now and 2007 marks the year of his return - but only as a voice in a computer animated film. While the premise is unique, the approach is generic, and the excellently animated, poorly executed family film will have difficulty avoiding the already popular classification that Bee Movie is indeed a B-movie.
  
  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
  
  
  
• Don't know....
  By A33PNAQ33DGBJG on 2007-11-25
  what all the buzz is about! Yes, it is a cute movie and my ten your old did like it but there really much in the movie that had me rolling on the floor with laughter. It was a pretty clean movie but there was still a little inuendo here and there. It was pretty ridiculus. A human and a bee? What? Oh, well, it was a pretty good slice of entertainment but really, all the rave was a bit overboard.
  
  
• Loved it!
  By AFU784FXSV9OK on 2007-11-29
  My husband and I really enjoyed watching this with our 4 year old daughter and almost 2 year old son. The picture quality is excellent (very vivid and bright) which kept my son's attention. There were funny parts throughout the entire film. I thought the overall concept of the movie was great. I thought the voices were great and loved Renee Zellwegers character the best. I can't wait to buy it on DVD. Both of my kids really enjoyed it and now I will have something other than Curious George that my 2 year old can watch without getting bored. Can't wait to watch this movie again and again. Great for the whole family!
  
  
• 2 1/2 - "Why is yogurt night so hard?"
  By A3M2WW0PO34B94 on 2008-01-24
  "Why is yogurt night so hard?"
  
  "Bee Movie", the new animated film created by Jerry Seinfeld, with the voices of Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Patrick Warburton, Matthew Broderick and John Goodman, is a cute film. Too cute.
  
  The title is a play on words, and this is about as edgy as the humor gets. B Movie is a term that used to be applied to a film made by a studio that was paired with a more expensive, more prestigious film. Basically, a second film used to fill out a double bill to give the customer the feeling they have received their money's worth. Generally, they were made by directors less respected by the studio and starred either new, up and coming actors or actors who needed a paycheck. "Bee Movie" is about Barry the Bee (Seinfeld). Get it.
  
  Barry and his best friend, Adam (Matthew Broderick) graduate from Bee College and immediately find they face a decision; they must choose the job they will do for the rest of their lives. But Barry wants to se the outside world, so he tags along with a group of bees that are charged with collecting pollen. Flying through the outside world, Barry's eyes are opened by all New York has to offer and he meets a human, Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellweger), a flower shop owner (get it?) who befriends him from the buffoon (Patrick Warburton) who wants to be her boyfriend. As their friendship blooms, Barry learns humans have harvested a lot of honey, stolen it from the bees and decides to take them to court to get it back. It sounds like a good idea, but when he wins, an unexpected thing happens and he has to make everything right.
  
  The film is sprinkled with humor. Every now and then, Barry has a Seinfeld-like rift on what he is observing as a bee in the outside world. And some of the characters have memorable lines. For instance, the buffoon (Warburton) who wants to become Vanessa's boyfriend, is upset when she cancels Yogurt night. "Why is Yogurt night so hard?" he bellows as the door is shut in his face.
  
  And the environment of the hive is interesting; as the film begins, the animators take us on a whirlwind tour of the hive and all of the various aspects of it. This is a fast paced moment and provides for some neat visual gags.
  
  When Barry takes his flight with the rest of the bees who venture out of the hive, the animators have some fun with the flight, swooping in and out of box kites, through trees, across the New York landscape.
  
  The biggest problem with "Bee Movie" lies in the animation. It is well done but the style of the characters is too cutesy. As soon as I saw Barry and Adam walking through the hive, I immediately thought of a picture book for children. The animation is very stylized and far removed from reality, which is a good thing because a realistic bee probably wouldn't be too fun to watch. But they have, perhaps, gone too far in the other direction. Barry and all of his brethren resemble a Disney Baby version of a bee. A few years ago, Disney began creating Disney Baby versions of Mickey, Pluto, Donald, Minnie, Goofy and the rest of the brood, that are much rounder, softer, and cuter. Perfect for little babies and newborns, extending the Disney brand by capturing the kids even earlier. The bees look like that, rounder, softer, and cuter.
  
  If this were the only example of this, of catering to the very youngest crowd, it would probably be okay. But there seems to be a conscious effort to gear the entire film for this age range. The humor is light and less sardonic or biting than you might find. The story is a little simplistic. The acting is a bit broad. I think that you will find in any `classic' animated film the filmmakers have made a conscious effort to cater to both young and old. In all of the modern Disney classics, the animation is beautiful and strives to be as lifelike as possible. While they may include talking (or singing) animals, they also include humor geared specifically for adults and maybe even a little danger or threat. This makes these films enjoyable for the adults who are required to bring the kids to the theaters in the first place. And when those kids grow up, they remember the films with fond memories, introducing them to their children.
  
  "Bee Movie" isn't bad, it just isn't fast-paced enough to keep the adults in the audience enthralled. There is a scene late in the film in which Barry and Vanessa are traveling to California on a plane. Very quickly, things spiral out of control and Barry and Vanessa find themselves in control of the plane. There is a moment when Barry tries to explain to Vanessa what happened, which is the closest thing we have to the "Seinfeld" humor you would expect from him. It is a funny line and more of the same type of humor would have helped to make the film more memorable.
  
  "Bee Movie" has its moments, but I can't help but think the film is appropriately named. It will most likely be a B movie in comparison to the best Disney has to offer and anything Pixar ever does.
  
  
  
  
  
• Depressing movie with confussing messages
  By AKEZ5LBU48M63 on 2008-02-15
  This movie was so weak. Jerry Seinfeld, who I love, is the main character. Unfortunately, his humor didn't carry the movie for me. He plays a bee who becomes obsessed with the knowledge that humans are taking all their hard made honey. He goes to court and wins all the honey back. As a result, the bees stop working, flowers aren't pollinated, everything on the planet is dying.
  
  So what is the moral? Is it wrong to steal others work, is it wrong to sue, is it wrong to relax when all the work has already been done? There were just a lot of confusing messages and very few positives.
  
  It was a depressing movie with an ugly court case, like we needed another one of those. I have no desire to ever see this movie again.
  
  
• What a fun movie for the whole family!!
  By A2VTUTUTT5SO0Z on 2008-02-18
  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, co-author of Secret of the Sands
  
  
• Bourgeois Indoctrination
  By A2ZZ2XEZN04KBG on 2008-03-19
  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!
  
  
• Bee-ware!
  By A2QW2V285U824L on 2007-11-03
  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.
  
  
  
• So much better than I thought it would be
  By ADIY3IXY2FDJQ on 2008-03-14
  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!
  
  
• what the ??
  By AP8C9BH0ZHZSE on 2008-03-26
  I do not understand why such great talents such as Jerry S. and Renee Z. would waste their time with such a horrible movie. I usually like all of the animated movies but this is awful
  
  

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• The Spiderwick Chronicles (Widescreen Edition)
• Dan in Real Life