Bee Movie

Overall score:

Starring Jerry Seinfeld, Rene Zellwegger, Matthew Broderick, Chris Rock, John Goodman 
Written by Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, Andy Robin
Directed by Steve Hickner, Simon J. Smith
Rated PG (mild vulgarity, profanity)
Slicc Flicc A- 

Going into Dreamworks Animation's new film Bee Movie, my expectations were fairly low. The ad campaign has been, to say the least, underwhelming: a few brief, not especially memorable clips of CGI bees buzzing around, and some dreadfully unfunny live-action television sketches (anybody who has been watching "The Office" lately knows what I'm talking about). Dreamworks seemed reluctant to show us much of anything from the film itself.

Yet, as I have mentioned before, I have a fondness for cartoon animals, so I didn't expect Bee Movie to be awful. Just an average, cute, well-animated, but unispired, family flick like; for example, Surf's Up. For the first 20 minutes, that is exactly what Bee Movie seems to be.

Young bee Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) has completed his grueling six days of education, and now is about to choose a job in the hive, one he will assume for life. And yet . . . he yearns for something more. Something different, that he just can't put his finger on (it's amazing Seinfeld talked Jefferey Katzenberg out of hiring Alan Mencken to write an "I want" song). We are treated to a series of beautifully animated, pleasant, but not overly amusing sequences of everyday hive life. Certainly watchable, fairly enjoyable, nothing really special.

Then, when Barry follows a group of "pollen jocks" outside the hive, he breaks the greatest rule of bee society by talking to and making friends with a human (Rene Zellwegger). As their freindship develops, things start getting a little more interesting. Then, suddenly, Seinfeld and his collaborators swerve, taking the plot in a completely unforseen direction, not even hinted at in any advertising.

Here, Bee Movie becomes special, as it change genres into something no one expects and becomes a hilarious, inventive satirical romp. I would hope that most critics will be as vague as I am being about where the thrust of the plot is headed. So much of the fun of this movie is in the surprise, that to give it away would be a great disservice. Suffice it to say that this turns out to be more than an average misfit hero cartoon, and reaches levels of zany creativity one would expect from classic Jerry Seinfeld.

It's been quite a while since I was this happy to have a movie be so different from what I expected. So, in the end, Bee Movie earns an enthusiastic reccomendation. Yadda yadda yadda. Bee Movie is rated PG for some fairly mild vulgarity and profanity. It doesn't come close to what you would see on "Seinfeld" or even those TV spots during "The Office", but parents taking young children might experience one or two mildly uncomfortable moments.

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Written by Brothers Gibbs on November 01st, 2007