Review of Bee Movie (2007) by Harry W — 04 Jan 2014

Bee Movie attracted me on the basis of Jerry Seinfeld's charm and quality animation, but watching the film detracted me for many reasons.

For one thing the plot in Bee Movie is so utterly ridiculous that it causes trouble. What could have been an interesting film in the same style of A Bug's Life was actually weird as hell. I mean the characters actually interact with humans which crosses a line that animated films like this should not cost, and it is way too optimistic about how Bees exist in the world. By that I mean that regardless of the fact that bees are not intelligent enough to construct an educational system or the hospitals and schools that Barry B. Benson claims humans have stolen from them, they are made to be intelligent figures. Now I can deal with that, but I don't believe that the influence of a bee would bring down honey companies worldwide and I don't believe that for a film this sub-par I should. It's ridiculous, and because even though Bees don't have civil rights, they manage to be the cause of flowers dying worldwide on the planet. The story is way too awkward and unappealing, as well as confusing and not uplifting or inspiring. It does emphasise the importance of Bees on the world well, but it's way of emphasising this is bland and tasteless. And it's really hard to pretend to care about the romantic relationship between a bee and human because it's common sense that it's ridiculous and stupid.

And it's jokes are hit and miss. The puns are used to excess and are rarely funny, while more awkward if anything. The only thing I consistently laughed at were Ken's ridiculous antics and the voice work of Patrick Warburton in the role since his iconic voice was powerfully hilarious, while the rest of it was inconsistent.

Lastly, the pacing is irregular since it takes an hour to get to the film!s turnaround point and from there has limited time to cram in a conclusion, and it's all too rushed and doesn't have time to develop the drama that is thrown in there by the writing.

Really, Bee Movie has a story that's excessively weird and crosses the border set up between man and animals in so many animated films which is incongruent and defying of animated cinematic logic which makes it challenging to enjoy in certain areas.

Jerry Seinfeld capitalises on his skilful ability for being a whiner in Bee Movie since his high pitched voice is energetic and good for the humour of Bee Movie, even if it is hit and miss. And while Jerry Seinfeld's writing skill may not be great for annotated cinema, his voice talent surely is so he's a real genial presence.

But like I said before, Patrick Warburton's over the top effort was the comedic standout.

John Goodman also managed to deliver some fine voice work even though his character didn't look appropriately matching to his voice, and id Rip Torn managed to dominate when he saw fit which was surprisingly strong.

And although I did make a conscious effort to identify him in the film, Michael Richards' voice effort was great considering he's back to working with Jerry Seinfeld again.

And along with a decent line of voice work is some impeccably colourful animation which captures a thriving life in the aesthetic appearance of all the Bees, and it's all a strong visual experience because of the visual quality of the elements. Bee Movie does offer some exceptionally colourful animation.

But still even with good animation and a decent voice cast, Bee Movie is too strangely plotted to succeed.