by Perry Cox

Created on: November 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 27, 2008

Barry is a bee with ambition. He is shocked to find that he is expected to choose a job for life and never see outside of the hive. Looking for adventure Barry tags along with the nectar jocks with a warning ringing alarm bells in his mind, DO NOT speak to humans. After ignoring this rule Barry is about to start an adventure that could change bees forever.

"Bee Movie" is one lazy arsed attempt at an animated movie. Nearly, everything here has been done before and more successfully in films such as "Antz" and "A Bug's Life". The plot is dull even for a child audience and there is a distinct lack of humour throughout. Jerry Seinfeld as Barry should have been an inspired choice yet he just bumbles along on autopilot with a script that lacks any drive and a cast of supporting characters with no eccentricities to keep them interesting. The bizarre love story between bee Barry and human Vanessa (played by Renee Zellweger is simply ridiculous and there is little here to keep you watching.

An animated movie should be exciting and funny with a broad appeal for adults and children yet I cannot see "Bee Movie" appealing to adults at all. The basic ingredients are here. Cute, industrious bees versus humanity should have been a winner but it is all so lackadaisical and lacking in conviction. There are the obligatory film references and cameos from Sting (too easy), Ray Liotta and a Bee version of Larry King to appease an adult viewer. However, they do so little with them that it does not spark any interest.

Worse than all of this though is that I presume that this is intended as a children's movie but what is there here to excite them? Sure the animation is sharp enough and it all looks the part. There is a cast of allegedly funny people in here including Chris Rock and John Goodman but were the hell is the funny stuff to make my children laugh? Apart from one deadpan moment delivered by a mosquito there is nothing here.

You cannot even say that there is an emotional journey to go through as the plot is so inconsequential that you cannot squeeze any emotion from it. Okay so I get the morality of small business versus corporate monsters but is this going to be a moral that will hit home at the target audience?

This is a film lacking in originality and humour and you simply cannot care about any of the characters. If you are going to release yet another creatures versus humanity animation at least do something good with it. One of the worst animated movies I have seen in long time.

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