The Bee Movie, or a "D Movie?"

On occasion, one partakes in a bag of mixed nuts, pretzels, chips, and cheese puffs. These conglomerated concoctions can be delightful in their randomness and the way the various flavors add to one another. But this movie is not like that. It resembles that jar of pub snacks in which only the brown chips are tasty, or a licorice box with only a couple of butterscotch treats to find. Eleven of the treats are amazing, and every other particle just serves to drown out the good flavors.

I watched The Bee Movie years ago and thought it failed dismally. It reminded me of that Monty Python sketch where the nosy man comes in and keeps adding strangers to a couple's quiet romantic evening until the woman ends up falling out a window.  Then they just shoot the man when he tells them to leave and start singing a drinking song. The sketch just keeps going on and on without getting funny. That was how I felt the first time I watched Dreamworks Animation's Bee Movie.

I haven't seen much of Seinfeld's show or stand-up, but I have heard he's supposed to be a funny guy. However, anxiously anticipating the funny, I was actually unable to find Seinfeld's character humorous in any regard in this movie...  He keept acting as though whatever he says is comedy gold, and not a single line of his made me laugh.

The only bits I found hilarious were a couple of perfectly timed absurd interruptions in the dream sequence and the courtroom scene, but that can't make up for the confused and backwards commentary and satire on activism and social justice. There is some cartoon slapstick to be had, but not enough to keep children entertained. The satire cannot keep focus and feels weak, so there is not much for adults to laugh at either. I wish the movie were funnier, or more focused, or went to absurdism more often.

But failing that, at least we have Patrick Warburton stealing the scene every 20 minutes! His bravado, self-indulgent ego, and childish problem solving skills offer hilarious hijinks to counterbalance the completely unbelievable romance between Renee Zellweger and an insect.

Bee Movie fails at being a mixed product, but if you wish to dig, there are one to eleven treats worth finding in the crumbs.

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-Pragmus Omega