Review: Bee Movie
TO BEE OR…
A worker insect gets all existential in a snarky, animated hoot.
DEC 21, 2007 - WITH HIS EPONYMOUS, ALL-TIME-GREAT SITCOM, Jerry Seinfeld brought to television a never-before level of indulgence in the minutiae of daily life – but this indulgence is nothing new when it comes to animated features, at least the kind we get from Pixar and Dreamworks. Thanks to Shrek and Madagascar and The Incredibles and other films of this ilk, we’ve come to expect these Seinfeldian micro-riffs on the quotidian – with the rat-a-tat barrage of sight and sound gags, with the non-stop assault of pop-culture references, and with the candy-coloured and spit-polished animation that’s just about a reason in itself to head to the theatre. So when you hear about Bee Movie, which Seinfeld co-wrote, you think: Now what can this master of the TV domain bring to the big screen that’s new?
I’m happy to report that Seinfeld proves more than capable of a double dip, effortlessly extending his unique brand of shtick to a new medium (though the film itself isn’t as effortless, veering uncomfortably between entertainment and ecological parable). His high-pitched whine is the voice of Barry, the bee who discovers that humans are stealing honey from his race and decides to sue mankind – and the film hits the ground running from the second you hear those familiar vocal inflections exhibiting that familiar angst upon rummaging through a cupboard and finding clothes of the same colour and design. “Yellow-black, yellow-black, yellow-black, yellow-black… Black-yellow… Yeah, let’s shake it up a little.” The old jokes take a new spin with Seinfeld – and especially Chris Rock, as an agreeably addled mosquito – behind the mike.
For a film so filled with laugh-out-loud moments, it’s refreshing to see none of the obvious puns making the cut. (No, the insects in white-collar jobs aren’t M Bee A graduates, though there is a killer joke featuring the musician Sting.) In a bit where the bees are participating in a graduation ceremony, I heard a vaguely familiar march in the background. “Quite a bit of pomp, under the circumstances,” quips Barry, and I realised that the music was Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance. Another astonishing zinger plays on the similar-sounding words “watermelon” and “Guatemalan.” Along the way, there are nods to Enron, to Dustin Hoffman’s famous idling-in-the-pool scene in The Graduate, even to the high number of ad pages in the fashion glossies, when Barry reminisces about losing a cousin to Italian Vogue. (The cousin was swatted with the magazine, of course.) Seinfeld, as always, aims high, transforming minutiae into material.
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Saw the movie months ago - when it was relased in US.
Well, I thought there is a little bit of too much happening here, especially coming from a man who made an entire television series about “nothing” (which I have seen quite a few times and became huge fan!).
But the topic is so relevant with the news of BEE STRIKE coming from all over the world!! (News Item: Billions of bees have vanished without a trace, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why. First noticed late last year in the United States, disappearing bees also have been reported in Europe and Brazil).
But you can not blame Seinfield for that!!!
(It was interesting watching his interview on TV! He said he was invited by Steven Spielberg (his neighbour, BTW) for a dinner in a restaurant where he told steve, “They should make a movie about BEES and call it “The Bee Movie”!!! Steve looked at him and said, “You should do it”!! Seinfiled said - while laughing - “All that I had was the title”!!!
With all the advance buzz - I felt a little let down when the end credits rolled!! But still I would give the Bee movie a SOLID “B”!!
Yep, the movie is worth watching once for the gags… but it was a bit heavy for an animated flick.
This was a very entertaining film. It was funny and clever, and it wasn’t 90 minutes of toilet humor or references/recreations of recent pop culture touchstones. Surprisingly for such a film, much of the humor is rapid-fire verbal, though OTOH Seinfeld is behind this, so maybe its not that surprising.
Now when will Larry David make an animated film?
Desperately waiting for the Taare Zameen Par review!!!
APALA: That fact about vanishing bees is scary, man!
Shyam: “Heavy”? I thought it was no heavier than something like Happy Feet, which got all tangled up with global warming and such.
Ravi K: Yeah, the lack of toilet humour was refreshing — not that there’s anything wrong with that
Prashanth: Well… turn the page.
Hmmm… guess I’ll have to watch Happy Feet now!