I apologise, we feel bad, but there's no trailer available. ~Ed.
Jerry Seinfeld makes the move into animation by producing, writing and starring in this children's film. Surely a comedian of his caliber can write a funny screenplay? No, it seems not. Bee Movie is one of the flattest, most pointless, worthless diversions of the year.
Where is the inspired humour? After years of painstakingly slow animation, no-one once realized that the lines "A rose tournament?! Roses don't do sports!" were really quite stupid. It's actually quite impressive just how little effort has gone into making this film original and engaging. A friend who missed the first five minutes guessed that the first shot involved Barry the Bee choosing what to wear out of a selection of identical black and yellow clothes. Yep, he was bang on.
The story is weak, and the climax involving a jumbo jet doesn't have anything to do with what came beforehand. The whole film is just an excuse for some weak watered-down jokes to be loosely strung together. In fact, the sheer pointlessness of the movie is quite staggering. Humans eat honey? So what?
Maybe it's just supposed to be some sort of thinly-veiled communist propaganda, using Barry's experience to champion the importance of employment and of being part of a system. Coming from union-heavy Hollywood, that's not surprising. But it certainly goes against the grain. Usually animated films are all about being different and standing out from the crowd. This one is about blending in and not speaking out of turn.
The only thing the film has in its favour is the intricate design of the beehive and its inner-workings. And also for the scene in which Barry first leaves the hive and zooms around New York, which is beautifully brought to life.
But ultimately Bee Movie will only be interesting to younger audiences who might not realize how cliched the gags are. And while the target audience might be amused for an afternoon, Jerry Seinfeld has certainly tarnished his reputation as a comedian. His first foray into animation is flashy but useless.
By Andrew Hedley, Flicks.co.nz
This is what would happen if bees sued the world an alright movie but animation is so so and story line is the same leave this one for the under 7s
it was alright it was a little funny and that is why i liked it.
So, all the reviews said "Bee movie is a pile of crap". My girlfriend said "Sam, let's go to Bee Movie". I said "How about This is England, or Deathproof, or Beowulf?". She said "No". So we went to Bee Movie. I expected bad things. I was pleasantly surprised. While you'd expect better from Mr Seinfeld, the comedy came thick and fast and there was no slow boring bits. The flying scenes were pretty cool and the whole thing was a lot of fun. Renee Zellweger as Barry's human love interest/friend (this is implied rather than outwardly stated - you can imagine the sad reality of bee/human intercourse: Barry would be lucky to come out alive, let alone satisfied, and Renee would be unlikely to be make it through unscathed. I digress) is fun and quirky, and her human partner is one of the highlights, with his edge-of-a-heart attack stress levels. Look, it's not Atonement, it won't change your life and it won't make you a better person. It's mindless and stupid and it's a lot of fun. We left the theatre with big smiles on our faces.
The depth of talent in the cast and gag writing shines through, but it’s only just enough to take your mind off of the flat animation...
Nothing about the movie resonates emotionally. The conformity of the hive is neither crushing nor soul-deadening. The fact that humans making money off the bees' labor has no effect on the quality of life of the bees, who dwell in contented, well-fed insularity. There's no real jeopardy. The stakes are low. It's a bee movie about nothing.
That the story wilts towards the end of its relatively short running time is something of buzz-killer. But for its gags alone, Bee Movie deserves a bee-plus...
At its relaxed best, when it's about, well, nothing, the slyly comic Bee Movie is truly beguiling.
As in Seinfeld's much-loved, long-running television sitcom, the writing is sharp, but, disappointingly, the gag quotient is down...
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 6th Dec 2007.
Release date: December 6th 2007.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
