Running Tim: 1
hr. 30 min.
Rating: PG –
Mild, suggestive humor
Cast: Jerry
Seinfeld, Renee Zellwegger, Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Oprah
Winfrey, Rip Torn, Kathy Bates, Patrick Warburton
Director:
Stephen Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Genre: Animated,
Family, Comedy
I so did not want
to see Bee Movie. Going in, taking Chloe, Max and their two friends I expected
this more to be the “ZZZZZZZ” movie. As in snore.
Man was I wrong.
Bee Movie is a
smart, witty and actually laugh out loud movie for the entire family.
It tells the
story of Barry B. Benson - a bee - who has just graduated from college and is
looking forward to a life-long commitment as a worker bee in the hive. Well,
this scares the be Jesus out of Barry, who feels like there is more to the
world than just working in the hive. So Barry works his way into the hotshot
group of the hive – the pollinators. These bees are the buff, tops guns of the
hive. They decide to take Barry on a mission with them to pollinate. Of course
that goes away during a hilarious scene at a tennis court where they mistake
balls for a new kind of flower.
Barry is caught
in a volley between Vanessa
(voiced by Renee Zellwegger) and her obnoxious boy (voiced by). Barry
flies off the ball and goes on a fun set piece, where he is first caught in
traffic, then a car engine, then the car and back out onto the street – only to
be caught in a rainstorm. Well, bees can’t fly in rain. So Barry ends up at
Vanessa Bloome’s apartment, where she saves his life from her boyfriend, Ken.
Barry, in true
Seinfeld fashion, feels compelled to break the ultimate hive rule (don’t talk
to humans) and thank Vanessa for saving his life…thus revealing he can speak.
From there, Vanessa and Barry become friends for life. She learns about bee
life and Barry learns about human life like Cinnabon and Ray Liotta Honey.
Yes Ray Liotta
honey.
On a trip to the
supermarket, Barry is appalled by the overstocked shelves of honey. And in an
unexpected turn of events that I have come to expect from movies like these, he
decides to sue all of the honey companies. Bees vs. The world contains some
hilarious courtroom work, especially by rotund lawyer Layton T. Montgomery in a
hilarious turn by John Goodman.
The movie takes
another turn after Barry wins the case, to inject some timely messages. I was
reminded of Happy Feet how it went from fitting in to an ecological message.
Directors, Stephen Hickner and Simon J. Smith, show how important a role bees
play in the world.
There is
something for everyone in Bee Movie. The Seinfeld humor is there. Loved when
his parents were asking whether the new girl he met is “Beeish.” The relationship between Vanessa and
Barry is actually a sweet one. He fills a void that her boyfriend Ken (voiced
by Patrick Warburton) can’t seem to fill.
No, not that
void. He is a bee afterall.
I particularly
loved the send-up of The Graduate. And unlike Dreamworks other tentpole
animated giant, Shrek, this is wrought with pop culture references. They are
there, but they actually aren’t there for filler. They mean something. And
there are amusing cameos by Sting, Larry King and Ray Liotta.
So take a Sunday
afternoon and go see Bee Movie. Here, I would say it is an A Movie.
THREE AND A HALF BALL POINT PENS.