Bee Movie (imdb)
In its second week in theaters, “Bee Movie” flip flopped with “American Gangster” to gain the top spot in the box office. I’m not going to say which deserved the top spot, but it is fitting that each has had its turn being the weekend king. Who will it be this week? Hard to say with some hotly anticipated openings coming up, but, if you have the time and are looking for a kid friendly film, “Bee Movie” is worth a gander.
“Bee Movie” is a Dreamworks feature which follows many of the traditional Dreamworks’ animated movie trademarks. Big name voices, pop culture references and celebrity cameos, and even a few jabs at Disney. But, this one had a surprisingly Pixar feel to it the whole way through. Slightly more wholesome and sophisticated than “Shrek” with a story that includes a moral.
Barry Benson, a bee just about to enter his life as a grown up bee, is shocked to see that his future is not boundless fun but that instead he and his fellow bees will toil at the same job for the rest of their lives! Barry decides to venture away from the nest and break out of the mold. Out in the world, he discovers that humans have been stealing bee honey and he decides to do something about it.
As is trademark of Jerry Seinfeld, the voice of Barry Benson, the movie is ripe with one liners and cute double entendres making light of potential crossovers between bee and human life. For example, Barry expound on how glad he was to “take a day off one day in the middle to hitch hike around the hive” after “3 days of grade school, 3 days of high school, and 3 days of college”.
All in all, this is a solid entrant in the world of computer animated movies. It’s cute and pretty enough for kids to enjoy but is filled with enough satirical dialogue to garner chuckles from a more adult audience. Actually, to be fully honest, Dreamworks may have pushed the limits of the dialogue to a point that kids may have a bit of a tough time identifying with the movie outside of its obvious prettiness and cute anthropomorphic characters.
A good animated film is hard to make. They are usually either too kiddy or too adult. It’s clear that Dreamworks has been tinkering with their approach in hopes of finding the middle ground. Where “Shrek” was filled with fart jokes and slap stick comedy, “Bee Movie” tries to entertain in a more sophisticated way. Unfortunately, the middle ground comes with the loss of laugh out loud moments. That being said, “Bee Movie” is a solid overall movie. Enjoyable, light, and chuckle-worthy if a little unspectacular.
3.5 honeycombs out of 5
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