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So I saw Bee Movie (Jerry Seinfeld) today

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So I saw Bee Movie (Jerry Seinfeld) today

Old 02-19-07, 06:28 PM
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So I saw Bee Movie (Jerry Seinfeld) today

Today I was lucky enough to go (along with my sister posing as my daughter) to a very early screening of Jerry Seinfeld's new animated movie Bee Movie. The film doesn't come out until November and about half of the film was storyboards. Jeffrey Katzenberg was there too and they said it was one of the first public screenings.

Anyways on to the film. Jerry Seinfeld stars as Barry Benson, a bee fresh out of college who is not exactly thrilled about going to work in the honey factory for the rest of his life. One day he leaves the hive and is nearly killed until a young florist Vanessa (Renee Zellwegger) saves him. Barry is so greatful that he decides to thank her personally, even though bees are forbidden to speak to humans. The two soon become friends and everything is peachy keen. While walking in a supermarket together, Barry sees packaged honey and finds out that humans also consume honey. This shocks Barry, as the honey has to be forcibly taken from the bees. Soon Vanessa and Barry are working together to sue the honey manufacturers in the Supreme Court and get all of the worlds honey returned to the bees.

If you read that summary, you can tell that the story isn't the movie's strong point. It jumps around so much and new plot points are introduced and dropped so rapidly that its confusing. It does, however, have some pretty funny lines. Patrick Warburton steals the show as Ken, Vanessa's human love interest. I also enjoyed how the humor wasn't your generic safe kids humor. Theres a refrence to a person being a "gay man" and one character is described as "very Jewish". It never crosses the line of but it keeps the film from becoming another PC crap fest.

Overall, I'd give the movie 3 stars or a letter grade of B. Its funny, but not that funny. The story sucks but it has some original elements that you won't find in most kids films. Its worth a rental or seeing in theaters if you're a big Seinfeld fan. One more thing, although being in the trailer, Chris Rock has 1 scene and about 5 lines. He's very funny as a mosquito headed to alaska ("Moose blood. Its crazy stuff!") but deserved more than a cameo.
Old 02-19-07, 10:08 PM
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You mean it's not Jerry Seinfeld in a bug costume?!


Old 02-20-07, 02:27 AM
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Wow, I'm jealous. I really want to see this movie and the fact that I've been seeing advertisements for it for like five months already (and will be seeing ads for another nine months) makes me even more jealous. Thanks for the review. I imagine it'll be a lot better once all of the animation is finalized.
Old 02-20-07, 06:15 AM
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If the screening you saw was mostly storyboards, is the movie due out this year? Christmas?

Is it 2D or 3D?
Old 02-20-07, 06:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Michael Corvin
If the screening you saw was mostly storyboards, is the movie due out this year? Christmas?
November according to the second sentence.
Old 02-20-07, 06:30 AM
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The trailer is funny. I kind of miss seeing Seinfeld around. So I'm definately going to see it.

Was the screening in Phoenix? Right place at the right time for the screening, eh? I got in on preview screenings a few times - back when I would hang around Mill Ave. Never see the promo guys anywhere else, though.
Old 02-20-07, 09:48 AM
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So it really is a "B" movie?
Old 02-20-07, 04:12 PM
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Its 3D, due out in November. The cut I saw was about 50% story boards, 25% textured computer animation, 25% untextured computer animation. The music wasn't final either. I recognized some of the music from the Incredibles being used.
Old 02-20-07, 10:56 PM
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I don't think the story is that bad, in fact it's better than a lot of the recent animation stuff. This looks great and I can't wait to view it.
Old 02-21-07, 07:14 AM
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Originally Posted by RyoHazuki
I recognized some of the music from the Incredibles being used.
I know directors use temp music early on, but using your direct rival's? That's kinda funny.
Old 08-05-08, 09:00 AM
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Finally saw this last night. I wasn't expecting much, and was pleasantly surprised. I'm also surprised I couldn't find an official thread for it. The blu-ray looked amazing (no surprise) but I was more in awe of how unpredictable the movie was. I was expecting standard kids fare and was treated to a tad more plot than typical (think wall-e or happy feet).

It's definitely worth checking out.
Old 08-05-08, 01:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Michael Corvin
Finally saw this last night. I wasn't expecting much, and was pleasantly surprised. I'm also surprised I couldn't find an official thread for it. The blu-ray looked amazing (no surprise) but I was more in awe of how unpredictable the movie was. I was expecting standard kids fare and was treated to a tad more plot than typical (think wall-e or happy feet).

It's definitely worth checking out.
I agree. I thought this movie was better than most of the critical comments it received. I think most people expected an extension of Seinfeld-TV-show humor or silly kids fare and it was neither. I loved the animation (particularly the flying through the city sequences) and the references that only adults would get (such as the homage to the Graduate for example). It wasn't a masterpiece by any means, but it was extremely entertaining.

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