Bee Movie Review

Somewhere in tinsel town there's a meeting taking place to decide which unlikely species of creature is next up for the animated treatment like more grist for the mill. And now Dreamwork Animation brings you the picnic's sworn enemy - the bee.

Yes, "Bee Movie" does exactly what it says on the tin. We find ourselves in New Hive City where everything runs like clockwork. Most work for Hexagon, the leading honey manufacturers. Strict social ordering rules all and of course everyone is related (there's a nice little line concerning dating taboos knowing that the desired partner is undoubtedly your cousin). Well Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) has become restless of Hive life and is dismayed by his best friend's (Matthew Broderick) willingness to surrender himself to just one job for the rest of his life. Barry wants to see the outside world and so enlists with the Pollen Jocks (the bees responsible for cross-pollinating flowers). On his first sojourn out in the wide blue yonder Barry gets separated from the group and finds himself amongst humans - most of whom would like nothing more than to squish him! However, one kindly florist, Janice (Renee Zellweger) saves him from a grizzly fate at the soles of a pair of winter boots. To show his appreciation Barry breaks the cardinal rule of bee-kind and talks to Janice thereby sparking up the first inter-species relationship. Together they bring the world to the bee's doorstep via a court case to decide who can claim rightful ownership of honey.

If this all sounds a little stretched, even for an animated offering such as this, then that's because it is. "Bee Movie" tries a little too hard to please and invariably suffers through some flat moments in proceedings that may bore the younger members of the audience. But what "Bee Movie" does it does very well with a nice line in high-brow comedy courtesy of the pitch-perfect Jerry Seinfeld (who penned the story). Seinfeld, as the neurotic bee, and Zellweger as Janice are clearly having a lot of fun and the pair strike up a great little comic act. "Bee Movie" may aim high with its comedy, with plenty of in-jokes just for the adults, and more often then not it hits the target with Chris Rock on hand with a scene-stealing cameo as a bloodsucking mosquito. This will prove a hit with the older members of the audience but "Bee Movie" may have a sting in the tail for the little ones.