Bee Movie
Bee Movie ***
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Written by Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin
Starring:
Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson (voice)
Renée Zellweger as Vanessa Bloome (voice)
Matthew Broderick as Adam Flayman (voice)
Patrick Warburton as Ken (voice)
John Goodman as Layton T. Montgomery (voice)
Chris Rock as Mooseblood (voice)
Kathy Bates as Janet Benson (voice)
Barry Levinson as Martin Benson (voice)
Larry King as Bee Larry King (voice)
Ray Liotta as Ray Liotta (voice)
Sting as Sting (voice)
Oprah Winfrey as Judge Bumbleton (voice)
Larry Miller as Buzzwell (voice)
Megan Mullally as Trudy (voice)
Rip Torn as Lou Lo Duca (voice)
Michael Richards as Bud Ditchwater (voice)
91 Minutes(Rated PG for mild suggestive humor, and a brief depiction of smoking. )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember reading about "Bee Movie" for the first time several years ago, when http://www.movies.com/ had their weekly "Hot off the Press" newsletter-where they would post pages for new movies that were announced or in the works. Not all of them would be made, and now-at least four or five years after reading about it for the first time-"Bee Movie" is finally out. And since this is Jerry Seinfeld's first major release ever since 1999 when he left his sitcom-which I won't even write the name of for obvious reasons-there was a certain-for lack of a better term-buzz in the air about it. And I honestly don't think that "Bee Movie" disappointed. This isn't an amazing animated film-and certainly doesn't come close to the masterful "Ratatouille,"-but it is diverting and amusing, and there are some very funny one liners. Even the puns-and there are a lot of them, especially considering its a movie where bees have their own universe-don't really grow old. I felt like I was watching a lesser version of "Antz," an animated film from the late 90's that never really got its due.
Seinfeld is the voice of Barry B. Benson, who after three days of elementary school, junior high, high school, college, and that day in the middle of the last two where he went for a spin around the hive, is graduating college. And now he is sent off to work. But Barry is certain that there are bigger and better things out there, and when he goes out with the Pollen Squad, he ends up getting lost and ends up in the home of Vanessa Bloome, who saves him after her friend Ken-voiced by Patrick Warburton, who was in "Seinfeld"-attempts to squish him with his sports boot. Barry breaks a Bee Law and speaks to Vanessa, and the two suddenly become friends. On a trip to a grocery store, Barry discovers that the humans eat honey-right down to a special brand of honey with Ray Liotta on it. Barry is appalled-the bees work for that honey and get absolutely no credit for it. So Barry and Vanessa attempt to sue the human race for all credit for the honey, which eventually leads to chaos.
"Bee Movie" is thin on story, but there are a lot of laughs here. From a ridiculous trial sequence-where Ray Liotta is at the witness stand holding him Emmy for a guest spot on an episode of "ER" from 2005-to a scene where Barry ends up suing Sting for the royalties of his name-all the way to a spoof of Larry King-where there are several jokes about his age-"Bee Movie" does a good job at satirizing human things in the bee world. To really end up being angry at "Bee Movie" for its lack of story doesn't really matter-it ends up being a movie about nothing-much like "Seinfeld" was a show about nothing. Only just in a different way. I laughed, and that's the most important thing about a movie like this. The kids will laugh, or be thrilled at some of the flying action scenes,and the adults will laugh at the sly pop culture references-Liotta, Sting, Larry King-it all just really seems to work. The animation is flawless-such a careful attention to detail-and everything is smooth. The vocal work is all on target-Seinfeld doing his normal stuff, but Patrick Warburton is hilarious as the "jealous of a bee" friend of Vanessa, Chris Rock is funny as a mosquito, and the always underrated, and welcome, John Goodman as as a southern lawyer defending the humans.
It's always been a fact that Dreamworks Animation movies have been lesser than the Pixar works, and that certainly is true. But with "Bee Movie" there are actual signs of maturity on the Dreamworks front. I wouldn't give this the Best Animation Film Oscar, but there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes-and this is certainly a good time out.
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Written by Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, and Andy Robin
Starring:
Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson (voice)
Renée Zellweger as Vanessa Bloome (voice)
Matthew Broderick as Adam Flayman (voice)
Patrick Warburton as Ken (voice)
John Goodman as Layton T. Montgomery (voice)
Chris Rock as Mooseblood (voice)
Kathy Bates as Janet Benson (voice)
Barry Levinson as Martin Benson (voice)
Larry King as Bee Larry King (voice)
Ray Liotta as Ray Liotta (voice)
Sting as Sting (voice)
Oprah Winfrey as Judge Bumbleton (voice)
Larry Miller as Buzzwell (voice)
Megan Mullally as Trudy (voice)
Rip Torn as Lou Lo Duca (voice)
Michael Richards as Bud Ditchwater (voice)
91 Minutes(Rated PG for mild suggestive humor, and a brief depiction of smoking. )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember reading about "Bee Movie" for the first time several years ago, when http://www.movies.com/ had their weekly "Hot off the Press" newsletter-where they would post pages for new movies that were announced or in the works. Not all of them would be made, and now-at least four or five years after reading about it for the first time-"Bee Movie" is finally out. And since this is Jerry Seinfeld's first major release ever since 1999 when he left his sitcom-which I won't even write the name of for obvious reasons-there was a certain-for lack of a better term-buzz in the air about it. And I honestly don't think that "Bee Movie" disappointed. This isn't an amazing animated film-and certainly doesn't come close to the masterful "Ratatouille,"-but it is diverting and amusing, and there are some very funny one liners. Even the puns-and there are a lot of them, especially considering its a movie where bees have their own universe-don't really grow old. I felt like I was watching a lesser version of "Antz," an animated film from the late 90's that never really got its due.
Seinfeld is the voice of Barry B. Benson, who after three days of elementary school, junior high, high school, college, and that day in the middle of the last two where he went for a spin around the hive, is graduating college. And now he is sent off to work. But Barry is certain that there are bigger and better things out there, and when he goes out with the Pollen Squad, he ends up getting lost and ends up in the home of Vanessa Bloome, who saves him after her friend Ken-voiced by Patrick Warburton, who was in "Seinfeld"-attempts to squish him with his sports boot. Barry breaks a Bee Law and speaks to Vanessa, and the two suddenly become friends. On a trip to a grocery store, Barry discovers that the humans eat honey-right down to a special brand of honey with Ray Liotta on it. Barry is appalled-the bees work for that honey and get absolutely no credit for it. So Barry and Vanessa attempt to sue the human race for all credit for the honey, which eventually leads to chaos.
"Bee Movie" is thin on story, but there are a lot of laughs here. From a ridiculous trial sequence-where Ray Liotta is at the witness stand holding him Emmy for a guest spot on an episode of "ER" from 2005-to a scene where Barry ends up suing Sting for the royalties of his name-all the way to a spoof of Larry King-where there are several jokes about his age-"Bee Movie" does a good job at satirizing human things in the bee world. To really end up being angry at "Bee Movie" for its lack of story doesn't really matter-it ends up being a movie about nothing-much like "Seinfeld" was a show about nothing. Only just in a different way. I laughed, and that's the most important thing about a movie like this. The kids will laugh, or be thrilled at some of the flying action scenes,and the adults will laugh at the sly pop culture references-Liotta, Sting, Larry King-it all just really seems to work. The animation is flawless-such a careful attention to detail-and everything is smooth. The vocal work is all on target-Seinfeld doing his normal stuff, but Patrick Warburton is hilarious as the "jealous of a bee" friend of Vanessa, Chris Rock is funny as a mosquito, and the always underrated, and welcome, John Goodman as as a southern lawyer defending the humans.
It's always been a fact that Dreamworks Animation movies have been lesser than the Pixar works, and that certainly is true. But with "Bee Movie" there are actual signs of maturity on the Dreamworks front. I wouldn't give this the Best Animation Film Oscar, but there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes-and this is certainly a good time out.
posted by Eric at
2:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home