Bee Movie - 2 Disc Collector's Edition (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk)

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

Customer Reviews:

A Charming, Light and Funny Animated Comedy.......2008-03-01

Bee Movie is a lovely film to look at because of its bright visuals - which will enchant children - and syrupy sweet atmosphere. It stars Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson, a bee who is disillusioned with the bee's tough life of hard work and very little play. The audience quickly learns that once a bee graduates from high school, they are immediately assigned to a job in the honey making factory at random, which they will have for the rest of their lives.

Barry rebels against this and after sneaking into a restricted zone and disguising himself as a pollinator, finds himself flying outside in New York City. Here he inadvertently has an accident and as a result meets Vanessa (voiced by Renée Zellweger), a beautiful florist with a boyfriend named Ken, who hates bees.

She discovers that he can speak and eventually the pair form an unlikely friendship. However, Barry soon discovers that not all humans are as nice as his new friend when he spots a jar of honey in Vanessa's kitchen. She tells him that it is sold all around the world and he is outraged. How could humans exploit bees like this for profit? He decides to file a lawsuit against the entire human race on behalf of all bees so that they can reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

The ensuing legal battle is original and witty - if entirely unbelievable - and showcases Seinfeld's great comic ability and allows for some very amusing moments. There are various celebrity cameos - in bee form, of course - including the likes of Ray Liotta, who owns his own honey company in the film, Larry King and Sting. Chris Rock also provides the voice of a manic mosquito who Barry meets on the windscreen of a truck and Oprah Winfrey plays the judge presiding over the trial.

The film - while not a masterpiece of animation or content - is very entertaining with humour which will please both children and adults and is well worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of Seinfeld or Dreamworks animation in general. Overall, its not too shabby.

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