Bee Movie is directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith. Voice actors include Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld), Renee Zellweger (Empire Records), Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Patrick Warburton (Family Guy), John Goodman (Death Sentence), Chris Rock, Kathy Bates (Misery), Larry King, Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Sting, Oprah Winfrey, and Megan Mullally. The film follows the life of a bee (Seinfeld) who has just graduated from his hive's school and now must make an important decision - what job in the hive he wants to have for the rest of his bee life. However, he has difficulty making so big a decision. During a trip out of the hive with some pollen collectors, he meets a human woman (Zellweger) who he falls for instantly - but his trip out of the hive is not without consequence. He quickly discovers that bees are being exploited, and that the human race is profiting from the creation of honey. Outraged, he gathers all the bees of the world - in an attempt to sue the human race and take back the honey that is rightfully theirs. However, in his hastiness, he fails to consider the long-term consequences this might have. ***

Bee Movie would have been a terrific movie.... If it had come out ten years ago. The plot.... It's been done to death, every other attempt better than this. There's no real storyline, but instead a convoluted mess of ideas. The animation quality pales in comparison to all other modern CGI-animated movies. The casting seems to have been done with star power in mind, rather than actually finding voice actors who suit the characters well. There are far too many celebrity cameos, as a result. The jokes are, to say the least, not funny, and get old fast... It doesn't help things any that it's hard to tell who the target audience of the film is. I'm not going to make the “It's a B-grade movie” joke everyone else does, because it definitely scores lower than that - more like a C-Minus or a D-Plus. The bee's knees this movie isn't. ***

One of the biggest weaknesses here is the general plotline. This whole insect/animal satire of a humanistic society.... How many times have we seen this on the big screen? Movies like Antz and A Bug's Life already did this to perfection. Not to mention these movies were superior in most other respects as well. ***

The first half hour of the film is quite entertaining. We have a young bee, just having finished school, having to choose a career path for the rest of his life. They could have made a movie around this storyline alone! But instead, we're forced to endure a weak love story, courtroom scenes, and even a third act that has a largely negative tone to it! Essentially, a hodgepodge of unfinished ideas thrown together carelessly. Plenty of scenes felt like a drama and a romance - nothing the kids are going to get into. ***

The animation of this movie is severely outdated. Ten years ago, a movie like this would have been a sensation. But so many other movies have made advances in their three-dimensional animation. Animation in this film is only marginally better than movies that came out over a decade ago. If you're going to make 3D animation the gimmick that sells your movie, make it modern 3D that can compete with the other films out there! ***

What's with all the big-name stars lending their names to this movie? I have praised other animated films of recent years for their ability to take talented voice actors that suit their respective characters well - not having to rely on star power for their being memorable. This movie is bogged down in big-name stars - many of whom just play slightly fictionalized versions of themselves! As much as I like Jerry Seinfeld, hearing his voice in this movie actually distracted me more than it entertained me. Most of the characters are on-the-sidelines and one dimensional. They're all stereotypes we've seen done to death before. Likewise, as far as complaints about the characters go, Chris Rock's mosquito character, despite appearing constantly in trailers and TV spots, GETS LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES OF SCREEN TIME. ***

The target audience is another question about this movie that boggled my mind. Was this meant for adults or kids? Because it's so imbalanced, it doesn't really work for either. Seinfeld's bee character is basically a rehash of his character from his eponymous TV series. With his razor-sharp wit he cracks out the occasional adult-oriented joke kids simply won't understand. But on the other hand, most of the other jokes ARE kid oriented, most of which dealing with bees/honey/etc. And believe me, they DO get old fast. Additionally, even if the movie was made with kids in mind, there are a number of factual errors about bees, but I'll spare you the details here. ***

There's just no possible reason to recommend this film, especially when you consider that Ratatouille, a far superior 3D animated family film, came out just months prior. So if it's a 3D animated film you fancy that the whole family can enjoy, go watch that one instead. ---

Image And Sound:

The anamorphic widescreen DVD transfer is bright and beautiful, with picture quality that won't fail to please. Audio quality comes across nicely as well, with all the voices and sound effects audible without distortion of any kind.

Two different DVDs of the film were released, a single-disc standard edition, and a double-disc special edition. There's a lot of material here, but it mostly consists of all-too-brief featurettes that don't do or cover a whole lot. There are over half a dozen featurettes/activities total, but most of them are under ten minutes and they just don't reveal or entertain a whole lot. The DVD-ROM content is pretty much disposable, just a game demo, some internet links, and printable content. Likewise, the disc includes plenty of TV spots and trailers. And while most of these aren't too interesting, you'll be pleased to know that the infamous “live action” trailers are on here. Also included are the “TV Juniors” segments that appeared on NBC. Probably the most interesting bonus feature is a commentary track from Seinfeld and the filmmakers. It's definitely worth listening to at least once, even if you weren't a huge fan of the movie (which I clearly wasn't.)

Final Words: