(It must also be said that there are some very vague references to drugs and to sexuality see the Family Corner box below.) These bits help give the comedy some added heft, making the funny stuff cut a little deeper, but it might also warrant a mild caution to parents of very young children who might be confused by this kind of humor. There's even a direct reference to Seinfeld's Judaism when he appears on the bee version of Larry King. In the past he's made his share of cracks about living as a Jew in a Gentile world, and there's a similar attitude at play here, with jokes that play upon the feeling of those who inhabit a world in which they feel like they don't belong-like an Asian female bee who works as a reporter in a news team with all other male, white (er, the bee equivalent) journalists while they all receive names that reference their bee-ness, the woman is simply Jeanette Chung. It all stems from a sort of outsider perspective that is nothing new for Seinfeld. Though the film is frivolous, that doesn't mean its jokes necessarily lack weight or gravity some of the gags here have social, political, and cultural implications that might raise some eyebrows. This is entertainment, first and foremost, and, as such, it's top-notch.īut it's also rather edgy. Folks looking for an insect-world variation on Finding Nemo might be disappointed to find that Bee Movie is a decidedly light, whimsical affair-good frivolous fun that never really gives us anything like artful storytelling, but only because it doesn't try to. Of course, not everyone will share in his glee. Mooseblood the mosquito (Chris Rock) teaches Barry about life in the fast lane The typical scenes of peril-involving our protagonist buzzing through the treacheries of human culture, nearly losing his life many times over-are reasonably well done, though we've seen this kind of thing so many times now that it no longer holds much excitement or suspense. Benson (Seinfeld), who takes flight outside of the hive one day and falls in love with a human, a florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger). In this case, the talking critters are bees, and the boat-rocker is Barry B. or Finding Nemo-talking critters inhabit a world that bears strong resemblance to the human world, and all of them are happy and content to maintain the status quo, right up until one boat-rocking maverick experiences life outside the bubble and realizes that there's something bigger and better out there, and things can never again be the same. The first third of the film is fairly commonplace, as far as animated films go, working from the same basic blueprint as Monsters Inc. Oh, it's a cartoon all right, with anthropomorphized insects and a mostly family-friendly vibe, but make no mistake: This is Seinfeld's show from top to bottom, and there's nothing here that doesn't bear his mark-starting with the story. There's nothing like selling out or cashing in going on here the entire movie drips with Seinfeld's personality, with his own unique sense of humor, with the subtle sense of subversion that characterized the sitcom at its edgy best. Never mind the fact that, after so many years flying under the radar, it seems a bit odd for the superstar comedian to resurface as the voice of an animated bee in a feature-length cartoon that he also had a hand in writing and producing.
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