Bee Movie: REVIEW

Sneak Preview
Last night a got to witness the sneak preview of the Bee Movie. Starring Jerry Seinfeld as an animated bee who has to doom, and then save the world! If you do not attend sneak previews there is this odd moment before each movie, especially odd when the theatre is filled with kids, when this huge guy steps up before the movie and in a very scary voice threatens anyone who attempts to record the movie with any digital device resembling anything that could in anyway capture the film on video, that they will be thrown out and prosecuted. Apparently they had three secret viewers hidden in the audience to watch over fellow movie goers to make sure audience members are not recording the movie for future profit. All the little kids in their black and yellow striped outfits looked terrified. Even I was; terrified; but I was not also dressed in black and yellow stripes.

Jerry Seinfeld
I have seen Seinfeld live in Minneapolis doing stand up, this was in 2002 shortly after his sitcom Seinfeld went off the air and he decided to never do old material again. He was great. I've enjoyed his show, the documentary Comedian, and his stand-up, and would consider myself a fan of his work. I was excited to see the Bee Movie.

BEEn there BEEfore
The storyline had some good undertones of serious problems; our dependance on bees, food shortages, corporations, cruelty to animals, etc. However, the characters were all stock characters and did not have much depth to them. The story was extremely predictable. Granted, that should be expected in an animated movie, but it left the story feeling very dry. Despite being a cute and quirky adventure, it really has no lasting effect. Honey on your fingers has a more lasting effect than this movie.

Cast
The cast is extremely impressive, with names like Oprah Winfrey, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Kathy Bates, Chris Rock and the list goes on and on. My personal favorite Patrick Warburton aka David Putty (seinfeld), although i was not impressed with his lackluster over the top character.

Animation
One of my biggest praises comes from the animation in Bee Movie. The film looked amazing. I really enjoyed the animated faces of the main characters, especially Barry B. Benson's cute face, and most of the bees. Really impressive stuff. Also my favorite part of the movie was indeed the part when Barry gets out of the hive and sees the park for the first time, while flying through a field of kites. This sequence was phenomenal visually.

Closing Credits
I also just recently saw the animated movie Ratatouille. Both movies feature these cookie cutter Pink Panther-esque closing credits. I found both of them very unimaginative and needlessly contrasting to the rest of the film stylistically. I would much prefer credits along the lines of Shrek, in which there is benefit or addition to the story in the credits. At the very least stay consistent to the rest of the movie.

Overall
Despite the my criticism, I laughed a dozen times (mostly when others were not) and found the movie to go by quickly. I enjoyed the animation and thought some scenes were stunningly beautiful. I hope it convinces a number of kids to BEE nicer to insects. Because, if nothing else, that is a good thing to take away from this movie. Respect. Therefore I rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Rating: 7.5 (out of 10)
One being the worst, Ten being the best