I still love animated movies and tend to see most of the new ones. I am pretty much willing to give any animated movie a chance. The animated movies made by Dreamworks haven’t been my favorites, but I am still willing to see their new releases at least once. I have been interested in seeing Bee Movie.
Barry B. Benson was a young bee facing a future of working for Honex for the rest of his life. Barry hated that idea and managed to leave the hive to explore a bit. He was fascinated by things he saw and even ended up becoming friends with a human woman named Vanessa, who he developed a bit of a crush on. Barry was horrified when he discovered that humans eat honey and he decided to sue.
The plot for Bee Movie wasn’t complex so children shouldn’t have any trouble following what was going on. For the most part it was dealing with Barry not being happy with certain things connected to his life and then his journey into the human world where he became friends with Vanessa. The subplot connected to Barry being upset about people selling and eating honey was added later in the movie. I thought that was an interesting idea and was definitely not like anything I’ve seen in any other animated movies. The plot moved along at a good pace without feeling rushed or being too slow. I did end up enjoying the movie more than I thought I would.
I have seen a few other animated movies that featured bugs, mainly ants. Bee Movie is the only one that has had bees as the main characters. There was an interesting look at life for the bees in the hive that I thought was done well and helped make the movie more entertaining. The bees were shown living in homes, watching tv, driving cars, and going off to work. Their way of life really wasn’t too different from humans. Barry was happy to get out of the hive with the pollen gathering bees, but then things went a bit wrong for him. He ended up meeting Vanessa because of that though. Of course it wouldn’t be believable for a human and a bee to become friends, but it worked in this movie. I think this is one of the few newer animated movies that have had animals able to talk to humans.
In addition to being a fun, entertaining movie, Bee Movie also shared information about bees and their important place in nature. I knew that bees were responsible for pollination before, but I guess I really hadn’t thought about how necessary they are to plants being able to survive. The point was made without the movie getting too preachy with the message. That happened in Happy Feet and did detract from my enjoyment of that movie. Since things about what bees do in nature was shared, younger children could learn a little something from the movie even though certain things - like the inner workings of the hive - weren’t depicted realistically.
I really didn’t have high expectations for the humor in Bee Movie since I didn’t think the trailers were extremely funny even though they did make me interested in seeing the movie. It probably didn’t help matters any that I’m not what you could call a fan of Jerry Seinfeld and his comedy either. I ended up laughing quite a lot throughout the movie and thought it was funnier than I was expecting overall. It wasn’t one of the funniest animated movies I’ve seen, but there was a good amount of humor. Several of the things done to add humor were rather silly, but they worked for the movie and didn’t bother me. Some of the things that Barry said or did for humor didn’t work that well, but the movie was still funny overall. There really weren’t gross jokes used like so many of the newer animated movies seem to depend on.
Been Movie was created with computer animation like most of the newer animated movies are. While computer animation can create some visually stunning animation, I still enjoy the more traditional hand drawn animation and wish more of it was still being done. The animation in this movie was well done, but it wasn’t as good as what Pixar has created. Nothing in the movie had the more realistic look that Pixar has been able to achieve with certain elements in their newer movies. The human characters did have a sort of plastic look to their skin and something about the movement seemed a little off. Bright, vibrant colors were used throughout most of the movie, especially in the hive and that did help to bring the movie alive.
Like I have mentioned in other animated movie reviews, I haven’t really loved any of the ones that Dreamworks has made. I did enjoy some of them but overall I just haven’t enjoyed them as much as the movies made by Disney or Pixar. I did really love Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away, but those two movies were made by another company and just released by Dreamworks. I haven’t hated any of the movies made by Dreamworks, but I haven’t liked them as much and don’t think anything they have done - yes I am including Shrek in this - has matched what Disney and Pixar have created. I ended up liking Bee Movie a lot more than I have most of the other Dreamworks animated movies that I’ve seen.
Most of the movie was focused in on Barry and what he was doing. He was excited about graduating, but he didn’t like the idea of having to pick one job and stay with it for the rest of his life. He wanted other experiences, which was why he left the hive with the pollination team even though he was scared. He did really enjoy being out in the world with humans and he even developed a crush on Vanessa. I did have some concerns before seeing the movie since I’ve never been a fan of Jerry Seinfeld and he was voicing Barry. He didn’t bother me in this.
Vanessa was a very kind woman who adjusted fairly fast to meeting a talking bee. There really wasn’t as much development for her. Renee Zellweger did fine with the voice for Vanessa. Ken, a man that Vanessa was dating, turned up a few times. Ken was a bit arrogant and didn’t like it when things didn’t go his way. He knew Vanessa became friends with Barry and didn’t like it at all. Patrick Warburton did fine with the voice for Ken. Matthew Broderick provided the voice for Adam Flayman, Barry’s best friend. Larry King did the voice for the bee version of himself in one very short scene. John Goodman did a good job with the voice for Layton T. Montgomery. Ray Liotta, Oprah Winfrey, Sting and Chris Rock also provided voices in a few scenes. I’m glad that Rock’s character wasn’t more important since he tends to get on my nerves.
Voice Talent
Kathy Bates - Janet Benson Matthew Broderick - Adam Flayman Jim Cummings - Title Announcer/Graduation Announcer John Goodman - Layton T. Montgomery Larry King - Bee Larry King Barry Levinson - Martin Benson Ray Liotta - Ray Liotta Larry Miller - Buzzwell Megan Mullally - Trudy Michael Richards - Bud Ditchwater Chris Rock - Mooseblood Jerry Seinfeld - Barry B. Benson Sting - Sting Rip Torn - Lou Lo Duca Patrick Warburton - Ken Oprah Winfrey - Judge Bumbleton Renee Zellweger - Vanessa Bloome
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
I ended up enjoy Bee Movie more than I thought I would, maybe because my expectations weren’t high. It was a fun and entertaining animated movie that adults can enjoy with their children.
From creator Jerry Seinfeld comes “Bee Movie,” a comedy that will change everything you thought you knew about bees. Take a closer look at their w...More at HotMovieSale.com
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