Bee Movie

Another Dreamworks animation. The think about Dreamworks is that they like to sell their animated films off of the names of the voice actors. Antz had Woody Allen. Shrek had Mike Meyers (and Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, and...). And now Bee Movie has Jerry Seinfeld. This isn't so much a complaint as an observation. While they certainly use the star power, these actors have delivered great jobs in their animated films, and Seinfeld really works well in his role as a bee.

However, you get the idea that Dreamworks blew too much of their budget on star power. First off, it is an animated film, and the people (especially the kids) who see it won't really care that Chris Rock plays a small role. Secondly, when compared to the works of a studio like Pixar, Dreamworks just can't measure up.

Now let me say that I understand Pixar and Dreamworks are coming from two different angles. Pixar likes to work with moral tales that delve deep and have a focus on character development. Dreamworks likes to make comedies with slightly less moral fiber but a stronger focus on humor and innuendo for the adults in the theatre.

For this movie, Dreamworks just tried too hard with the humor. The plot is centered around the jokes, meaning some moments in the film are odd and don't quite fit with the total direction of the film, just to set up a funny line. The other thing is that the jokes in Bee Movie just aren't that funny.

Overall, the film comes across as more cute than funny, and probably deserves nothing more than a rental if you're curious.