Seinfeld's Barry crosses the bee-human barrier.
Herald rating: * * *
Voices: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Chris Rock
Directors: Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner
Rating: G Running time: 90 mins
Screening: SkyCity, Hoyts, Berkeley
Verdict: Honey of an animated comedy from Jerry Seinfeld
Just as his sitcom succeeded so well by treating its
audience like grown-ups, so too does Jerry Seinfeld's first cartoon film. Which also may be its problem.
This brightly coloured movie about how a bee named Barry turns into one incensed insect comes with whiz-bang animated slapstick fun - like when he bumbles his way into a tennis game or on to the windshield of a car - that should keep the kids in fits.
But in the main, Bee Movie's humour is driven by offhand verbal jokes and a dollop of pop culture references, some relying heavily on The Graduate.
And its storyline winds up in an extended courtroom drama with celebrity cameos, which makes for a visually staid final act. One which, like Happy Feet, jettisons a logical story for an ecological one. So the kids might not think much of it, compared to previous Dreamworks creature features like the tiresome Shark Tale and Madagascar.
But for those with older funny bones, this remains highly enjoyable, especially for how Seinfeld gives Barry his recognisable comedy tics and a stack of one-liners ("I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue once," he quips about people swatting insects) making him the funniest New York Jewish comedian to go bug since Woody Allen did in Antz.
The film also delivers something strange but sweet in its inter-species sorta-romance between the bee and New York florist Vanessa (Zellweger).
Barry, unhappy to be just another hive drone, is caught out of his depth on a pollen-gathering mission in the city. He has his life saved by her, so decides to break the rules of bee-human interaction and thanks her verbally.
They get talking and soon Barry realises that bees aren't just slaves to their own work ethic but to the honey-eating human race. That leads to the lawsuit and, among other things, Winnie the Pooh getting a tranquiliser dart in the butt.
That the story wilts towards the end of its relatively short running time is something of buzz-killer. But for its gags alone, Bee Movie deserves a bee-plus.
