Bee Movie Review
Bee Movie” stars a very talented voice cast led by Jerry Seinfeld, Mathew Broderick, and Renee Zellweger. This animated film takes place in New York City, where a bee by the name of Barry leaves his bee hive to explore the outside world.
Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) has just graduated from college with his buddy Adam Flayman (Mathew Broderick). After Barry realizes that he will be working with the same job for the rest of his life, he decides to explore outside of the hive before he doesn’t have a chance to. Once Barry leaves the hive, but he breaks one very important bee rule: Never talk to humans. He meets a human by the name of Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zellweger), who saved his life. The two become close friends, but soon Barry finds out that the humans have been stealing honey from the bees for profit. He decides to sue the human race for stealing their honey.
Jerry Seinfeld adds some witty humor to a well mannered story about bees that will even amuse ones who aren’t fans of Jerry Seinfeld. This is a step towards great animation that adults will enjoy just as much as the children. Not a moment is dull in this sweet gift of a film. Although, some moments are absolutely ridiculous, those are overlooked considering all of the animated duds made this year. This is one of the better animated films of the year.
Bee Movie has all the special ingredients that make these films bearable for adults. It has a few big laughs scattered through the whole film. Jerry Seinfeld puts forth a worthy family film that has many clever moments. “Bee Movie” is funny, witty, and as sweet as honey.
A clever little animated flick that, in my humble opinion, puts a sting on “Ratatouille”. “Bee Movie” is sure to please kids as well as entertain adults with its clever ideas. Funny at times and has a talented cast. Spread the buzz around to those who found “Ratatouille” a bore.
Beowulf Movie Review
“Beowulf” stars Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robert Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Angelina Jolie. The film takes place in a village that is being disrupted by a beast. This is an adventure/fantasy that will be marveled only by its new age of animation.
“Beowulf” starts off with the village having a loud party that agitates the town beast, who has sensitive ears and goes by the name Grendal (Crispin Glover). The king (Anthony Hopkins) is tired of the destruction that Grendal has caused the town and calls upon the hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone). Beowulf then agrees to slay the beast. After his encounter with Grendal ends with Grendal missing an arm, Beowulf is unaware that the beast has an angry mother (Angelina Jolie) that he must face after slaying Grendal.
“Beowulf” puts the stunning animation that was used for “The Polar Express” to bloody good use. The problem with Beowulf is the remarkably bad dialog that produces a few unintentional (?) laughs. It was hard to tell if Robert Zemeckis was trying to make the film satirical on purpose. The only way to see this film is in theaters because the animation wouldn’t look as good on DVD. Strikingly entertaining as far as visuals go.
Another major problem with “Beowulf” is the ending, which I call a momentum stealer. It may have a connection with the story, but with such a slow paced ending to such a briskly paced film makes for a disappointing conclusion. As far as animation goes, this is the best I have seen all year. This is a huge leap from the poorly written and badly executed “Polar Express”, but still has it’s flaws that linger.
“Beowulf” is a visually captivating movie experience. There are two things that I couldn’t help but linger on. One is the laughably bad dialog, and the other is the ending takes away from the film’s energy. I will have to say that this film has one thing worth recommending, it’s thrillingly beautiful animation, and therefore fails as a whole.
