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Bee Movie [2007]

RRP: £19.99
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

There aren't a lot of choices in a bee's life: a bee attends a few days of school, graduates from college, and chooses a job in the hive that he'll labour at for the rest of his life. Barry (Jerry Seinfeld) is different from his best friend Adam (Matthew Broderick) and all the other bees: he wants to see the world outside the hive and can't begin to contemplate doing the same job for his entire life. Naturally, the life of the "pollen jock" bees appeals to Barry because it's the only job that takes a bee outside the hive and into the larger human world. Once outside the hive, Barry breaks the most sacred bee law and speaks to a human named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger) in order to thank her for saving his life. A relationship quickly blossoms and leads Barry to the discovery that humans are stealing honey from the bees and selling it for their own profit. Vowing to hurt the humans the one place they'll feel it, Barry brings a legal suit against the honey industry and the courtroom drama begins. There are some hysterical moments in the film, as one would expect from a Seinfeld production, and an abundance of one-liners, double-meanings, slapstick humour, and innuendo-laden dialogue that will keep adults guffawing throughout the show. Still, the whole concept of seeing the life of a common pest through non-human eyes is getting repetitive thanks to films like Ratatouille, Flushed Away, Open Season, and Over the Hedge. It should be noted, though, that this first foray into animation by Jerry Seinfeld was four years in production due to its collaborative nature, so its theme may actually have well pre-dated all of the aforementioned films. More than just a comical film about the life of one very different honey bee, Bee Movie is a social commentary that pokes fun at human behaviour while stressing the importance of doing even the most menial job well and championing the power of working together toward a common goal. There's even a lesson to be learned from the bees about controlling one's temper. --Tami Horiuchi

Bee Movie
Review date: 2008-05-22 Rating: 8 out of 10

We took our son to see this around Christams time, he was a month away from his 3rd birthday and this was his first trip to the cinema. He totally loved it and was thrilled to see it on such a big screen!! Even now 6 months later we can't drive past the cinema without him shouting "look that's where we went to see the Bee Monvie". He loved it, and when he got a Bee Movie top form my friend for his birthday he wanted to wear it everyday! My husband and I thought that it was reasonably entertaining, the jokes weren't bad and some of the humour has many levels so adults can find things funny in a different way. I am not particularly a Seinfeld fan, so have not been swayed in that way. It's just a nice, innocent kids film; visually stunning and relativily funny. We enjoyed watching our son enjoying it the most! We will no doubt buy it for him as I am sure he'll want to watch it again and again.

Reviews

Buzzing B's makes this an A for fun and education
Review date: 2008-05-19 Rating: 8 out of 10

If you think of everything you have in your life, then change all the humans into bees - this is what you''ll get - a funny heartful movie about bees which are pretty much human in attitude and emotions, goals and morals.

This animated masterpiece is quite similar to the story of Robots. I found the plot and the score music pretty much the same, but it was cool to be transported into the world of bees to see our way of life in the life of bees. The animation is first class, the camera sweeps and tracking were absolutely amazing.

The story is about a clever intuitive bee called Barry who sees the bee way of life boring and rountine. He sets upon a exploration voyage and encounters a human female (Renee) who he begins to have a crush on (sounds weird, but it's really quite sweet with a honey spin on it). Breaking the golden rule, Barry begins talking to her and they both set upon a legal battle to regain all the honey in the world with some disastrous global consequences.

This is a buzz of a family movie, funny and somewhat educational. Absolutely great fun and looks cool on the screen.

A great family film!
Review date: 2008-05-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

I saw Bee Movie at the cinema and really enjoyed it, so had no problems whatsoever watching it again. Not exactly a chore, is it? Anyway, this is another offering from Dreamworks Animation, the same people that created Shrek, and stars Renée Zellweger and Jerry Seinfeld as the voices of two of the major characters.

The story starts in a bee hive. Barry Benson (a bee, voiced by Seinfeld) is getting ready for his graduation ceremony. After three days at infant school, three days at junior school, and three days at high school, Barry is ready to hit the big time and get his first job. When bees choose their job, they have the same one for life. This doesn't seem to bother most bees, but Barry wants more. He's worried about having the same job for his entire life, so he slips out of the queue for jobs and decides to go exploring. He bumps into some pollen jocks who have just returned from collecting nectar and pollinating flowers. He's envious that they get to leave the hive and see the wide world - and he wants to give it a try, particularly when he sees how the female bees react to the pollen jocks.

So Barry goes on a mission with the pollen jocks, despite being told how dangerous it is. But he loves it in the wide world and goes exploring. Soon, though, he gets into trouble when it starts raining (and everyone knows bees can't fly in rain) and crash lands into a window box. Temporarily safe but very confused, he heads into the flat believing that the light hanging from the ceiling is the sun and immediately gets set upon by humans. His life is saved by a kind-hearted young woman called Vanessa (Zellweger). Barry is instantly in love.

From then, Barry thinks to hell with the rule that bees can't talk to humans, and embarks on a friendship with Vanessa. Then one day they're in a shop together and Barry spots the honey that is on sale. Outraged - Barry makes Vanessa realise how hard the bees work to make that honey, only for it to be stolen from them. Turning detective, Barry discovers exactly how it's being made, and with Vanessa's help files a law suit against humans for stealing the honey.

Predictably, all hell breaks loose, and the outcome isn't exactly what Barry expected. But still, all's well that ends well, as the saying goes.

This is a great film. It's one of those films that kids will adore because of the cute characters and the simplicity, but adults will love the 'in-jokes' which the kids wouldn't understand. And it's becoming increasingly the norm that these kinds of films are packed full of adult jokes. I'm not complaining because I thought it was a really funny film and I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour like mine. This is definitely a film that will appeal to a wide variety of people, and it's got a cute moral to the story too - very fairy tale like!

Why?
Review date: 2008-05-05 Rating: 2 out of 10

I made the mistake of going to see this film thinking of Toy Story, Monsters Inc or Finding Nemo etc. I was wrong for a start these films are funny with memorable characters and a storyline that actually goes somewhere, the Bee Movie just doesn't go anywhere, it's just a very boring film. Don't waste your time and money like i did.

Boring
Review date: 2008-04-25 Rating: 2 out of 10

Saw this film with 3 1/2 year old son at christmas and I thought it was awful. After about 30 minutes my son asked to go home. We stayed as I thought it could only get better; it didn't. I enjoy most kids movies but this was very bland, my son said it was boring.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Renee Zellweger
Jerry Seinfeld

Director(s):

Recording label: Dreamworks Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Home Entertainment
EAN: 5051189135231
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-05-19
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 87 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Original Language)

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Bee Movie [2007]

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