...tries mightily to be cute and cuddly, and in this regard it succeeds...at least for kids.
"Bee Movie" has a few very good laughs to help keep its sub-par story from sinking completely. The whole bee-meets-girl, bee-sues-world and then bee-flies-plane series of events are unimaginative and silly considering a singular little bee becomes a savior and a hero with such magnitude. Instead of Seinfeld having his little bees cause problems in a garden or a small community, he thrusts his little been onto the world stage and the character of Barry becomes the single most important life form on the planet. Where other animated films such as "A Bugs Life" or "Antz" provided a big insect world that fit nicely into the confines of a very small part of the world, "Bee Movie" feels overambitious and misguided. Is Seinfeld feeding a gargantuan ego with this storyline?
The voice talent all does a splendid job. Seinfeld brings many characteristics of his brand of comedy to the role of young Barry. He doesn't go over the top and it is somewhat believable that Barry is young and naive to the world. Zellweger brings warmth to her character, but I couldn't help but think I saw her character in "Ratatouille." Broderick and Goodman are also entertaining in their roles, but the underrated Patrick Warburton steals nearly every scene he is in. Ever since his perfect portrayal of the Tick in the live-action series, I've appreciated Warburton's handle on animated and comic-book characters. Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Oprah Winfrey, Rip Torn and Barry Levinson have smaller supporting roles in the film. Sting, Larry King and Ray Liotta parody themselves in the film and I must admit that I'm surprised they took part in the self-deprecating humor.
The computer-animated film looks very good. While DreamWorks cannot compete on the same level as Pixar in the story department, they are narrowing the gap in technology and "Bee Movie" looks very good. Particle effects, textures and lighting are all impressive in "Bee Movie." The hair technology used to bring Barry and other characters hair and fur may not be as awe-inspiring as Sully's fur in "Monsters, Inc.," but the movement of Vanessa's hair flowed naturally. Hair is one of the things that CGI continues to struggle with, but the animators created some great algorithms to handle the effects of wind, body movement and other factors that force hair to move. Water drops were nicely rendered as well. I won't say that "Bee Movie" is the best-looking computer animated film, but it is above average and one of the better non-Pixar films.
A few times I enjoyed a hearty laugh while watching "Bee Movie." There were some very funny moments in the little animated film. I'm not a fan of Jerry Seinfeld's but he had some good laughs, although the supporting cast provided more humor than the star. Chris Rock's line about how a mosquito can become a lawyer with just a briefcase was a great close to the film. Unfortunately, I was less than enthused with the story and pacing of "Bee Movie." I could have loved this film if Barry and his adventures were mostly focused on the bee world and not the realm of man, but Seinfeld intended his little bee to become bigger than the world and that huge plot was just a little too much for such a little bee. I don't feel as if I wasted my time watching "Bee Movie" and I would perhaps watch the movie again at some point. It is just that I wasn't overwhelmed or even impressed with Seinfeld's first true outing since his television show ended in 1998.
Dean's film rating: 6/10
Video:
The DreamWorks video engineers transferred the movie to Blu-ray disc in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, using an MPEG4/AVC codec at 1080p. As we might expect in a modern, digitally created animation, the picture's delineation is crisp, with good, if not always too bright, colors and respectable gradations of tone throughout. I found DW's animation technique somewhat less richly detailed than, say, most of Pixar's work, so the look and style of the movie didn't overly impress me. However, I have no doubt that the video transfer does the picture justice, and I can find no wrong with it.
Audio:
The disc provides an English track in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, which seems like overkill on this movie because there isn't always a lot for it to reproduce. There are a few good surround effects--the buzzing of bees, the roar of a jetliner--and there are spurts of deep, strong bass. Otherwise, like the color and animation, the soundtrack seems fairly ordinary.
Extras:
The disc contains a ton of extras, many of them carried over from the standard-definition two-disc set, some of them exclusive to the Blue-ray disc, and some of them in high definition. Exclusive to Blu-ray is "The Animators' Corner," a picture-in-picture feature that uses storyboard inserts while you're watching the main feature; "Barry's Trivia Track," a series of informational captions also overlaid on the feature as it's running; customizable character menus, for whatever they're worth; and "The World of Bees," in which you can press one of the buttons on your BD remote to get the inside scoop on characters and actors in the film.
The extras carried over from the SD disc include an audio commentary by Jerry Seinfeld and some of the filmmakers; three lost scenes, five minutes, with commentary, done in rough-draft form (HD); six alternate endings, fourteen minutes, again with commentary and again in rough-sketch form; "Inside the Hive: The Cast of Bee Movie" (HD), a fourteen-minute promo; "Jerry's TV Juniors," twenty-four minutes, little comedy bits with Seinfeld, again to promote the film (HD); two live-action trailers; "Jerry's Flight Over Cannes," three minutes of Jerry in a bee suit promoting the film at the festival; "Meet Barry B. Benson," where you can ask the character questions and get his replies; "Tech of Bee Movie," a seven-minute making-of feature (HD); a music video, "We Got The Bee," somewhat loud and raucous (HD); and a "DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox" segment featuring the end song from "Shrek" (HD).
Then, there are three trailers for other DreamWorks movies: "Kung Fu Panda," "Madagascar: The Crate Escape," and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," all in high def.
Next, we find a whole section of extras called "DreamWorks Animation Kids" aimed just at children. Here we find "Build a Bee," where you can mix and match hair, eyes, etc. on a bee to create your own character; "The Buzz About Bees," seven minutes of information about bees; "The Ow! Meter," which attempts to explain what it feels like to get stung by various types of bees (from the human's and bee's point of view, as well as how to avoid getting stung; and "That's Un-Bee-Leavable," a series of trivia questions.
The extras wind down with sixteen scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; bookmarks; and pop-up menus.
Parting Shots:
I'll let my esteemed colleague have the last word on the movie's rating, 6/10, as he reviewed it first. Personally, I found "Bee Movie" just short of dull most of the time and tedious at other times. Still, the filmmakers pack their movie with colorful (and cute) characters and a few important messages for younger children. So, for kids, the movie should work; for adults, I'd say it's pretty iffy.
The voice talent all does a splendid job. Seinfeld brings many characteristics of his brand of comedy to the role of young Barry. He doesn't go over the top and it is somewhat believable that Barry is young and naive to the world. Zellweger brings warmth to her character, but I couldn't help but think I saw her character in "Ratatouille." Broderick and Goodman are also entertaining in their roles, but the underrated Patrick Warburton steals nearly every scene he is in. Ever since his perfect portrayal of the Tick in the live-action series, I've appreciated Warburton's handle on animated and comic-book characters. Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Oprah Winfrey, Rip Torn and Barry Levinson have smaller supporting roles in the film. Sting, Larry King and Ray Liotta parody themselves in the film and I must admit that I'm surprised they took part in the self-deprecating humor.
The computer-animated film looks very good. While DreamWorks cannot compete on the same level as Pixar in the story department, they are narrowing the gap in technology and "Bee Movie" looks very good. Particle effects, textures and lighting are all impressive in "Bee Movie." The hair technology used to bring Barry and other characters hair and fur may not be as awe-inspiring as Sully's fur in "Monsters, Inc.," but the movement of Vanessa's hair flowed naturally. Hair is one of the things that CGI continues to struggle with, but the animators created some great algorithms to handle the effects of wind, body movement and other factors that force hair to move. Water drops were nicely rendered as well. I won't say that "Bee Movie" is the best-looking computer animated film, but it is above average and one of the better non-Pixar films.
A few times I enjoyed a hearty laugh while watching "Bee Movie." There were some very funny moments in the little animated film. I'm not a fan of Jerry Seinfeld's but he had some good laughs, although the supporting cast provided more humor than the star. Chris Rock's line about how a mosquito can become a lawyer with just a briefcase was a great close to the film. Unfortunately, I was less than enthused with the story and pacing of "Bee Movie." I could have loved this film if Barry and his adventures were mostly focused on the bee world and not the realm of man, but Seinfeld intended his little bee to become bigger than the world and that huge plot was just a little too much for such a little bee. I don't feel as if I wasted my time watching "Bee Movie" and I would perhaps watch the movie again at some point. It is just that I wasn't overwhelmed or even impressed with Seinfeld's first true outing since his television show ended in 1998.
Dean's film rating: 6/10
Video:
The DreamWorks video engineers transferred the movie to Blu-ray disc in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, using an MPEG4/AVC codec at 1080p. As we might expect in a modern, digitally created animation, the picture's delineation is crisp, with good, if not always too bright, colors and respectable gradations of tone throughout. I found DW's animation technique somewhat less richly detailed than, say, most of Pixar's work, so the look and style of the movie didn't overly impress me. However, I have no doubt that the video transfer does the picture justice, and I can find no wrong with it.
Audio:
The disc provides an English track in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, which seems like overkill on this movie because there isn't always a lot for it to reproduce. There are a few good surround effects--the buzzing of bees, the roar of a jetliner--and there are spurts of deep, strong bass. Otherwise, like the color and animation, the soundtrack seems fairly ordinary.
Extras:
The disc contains a ton of extras, many of them carried over from the standard-definition two-disc set, some of them exclusive to the Blue-ray disc, and some of them in high definition. Exclusive to Blu-ray is "The Animators' Corner," a picture-in-picture feature that uses storyboard inserts while you're watching the main feature; "Barry's Trivia Track," a series of informational captions also overlaid on the feature as it's running; customizable character menus, for whatever they're worth; and "The World of Bees," in which you can press one of the buttons on your BD remote to get the inside scoop on characters and actors in the film.
The extras carried over from the SD disc include an audio commentary by Jerry Seinfeld and some of the filmmakers; three lost scenes, five minutes, with commentary, done in rough-draft form (HD); six alternate endings, fourteen minutes, again with commentary and again in rough-sketch form; "Inside the Hive: The Cast of Bee Movie" (HD), a fourteen-minute promo; "Jerry's TV Juniors," twenty-four minutes, little comedy bits with Seinfeld, again to promote the film (HD); two live-action trailers; "Jerry's Flight Over Cannes," three minutes of Jerry in a bee suit promoting the film at the festival; "Meet Barry B. Benson," where you can ask the character questions and get his replies; "Tech of Bee Movie," a seven-minute making-of feature (HD); a music video, "We Got The Bee," somewhat loud and raucous (HD); and a "DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox" segment featuring the end song from "Shrek" (HD).
Then, there are three trailers for other DreamWorks movies: "Kung Fu Panda," "Madagascar: The Crate Escape," and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," all in high def.
Next, we find a whole section of extras called "DreamWorks Animation Kids" aimed just at children. Here we find "Build a Bee," where you can mix and match hair, eyes, etc. on a bee to create your own character; "The Buzz About Bees," seven minutes of information about bees; "The Ow! Meter," which attempts to explain what it feels like to get stung by various types of bees (from the human's and bee's point of view, as well as how to avoid getting stung; and "That's Un-Bee-Leavable," a series of trivia questions.
The extras wind down with sixteen scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; bookmarks; and pop-up menus.
Parting Shots:
I'll let my esteemed colleague have the last word on the movie's rating, 6/10, as he reviewed it first. Personally, I found "Bee Movie" just short of dull most of the time and tedious at other times. Still, the filmmakers pack their movie with colorful (and cute) characters and a few important messages for younger children. So, for kids, the movie should work; for adults, I'd say it's pretty iffy.
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[release]23710[/release]