Apparently all Jerry Seinfeld has been doing since Seinfeld went off the air is thinking of bee-related puns. That’s the impression you get from Bee Movie, the comedian’s first major project since his eponymous sitcom ended in 1998. As co-writer, co-producer and star, Seinfeld can be held directly responsible for the utter blandness of Bee Movie, a pleasant but entirely forgettable computer-animated tale of disaffected honeybee Barry B. Benson (voiced by Seinfeld), who is unwilling to commit himself to a regimented life of honey production and eager to experience life beyond the hive.
So Barry ventures into the human world, where he breaks the bee law against communicating with people and strikes up a friendship with florist Vanessa (Zellweger). Seinfeld has no real rapport with Zellweger, whose human character looks plastic and stiff compared to the limber bees. The scenes of Barry zipping past buildings and trees and gliding through kites are the movie’s most exciting visual moments, but they’re all too brief and overtaken by the half-baked plot that has Barry deciding to sue the entire human race for stealing the honey that bees produce.
While amusing as a throwaway bit, the lawsuit doesn’t hold up as the central plot element of the film, and the courtroom scenes are both silly and tedious, with John Goodman going way overboard as the evil lawyer representing Big Honey. Once the case is resolved, the movie limps along to its halfhearted moral, with a climax that feels rushed and random. That description also applies to the rest of the film, which is a collection of tired celebrity voice cameos and stale Seinfeld riffs repackaged to relate to the bee world.
There are a few funny lines here and there, and the bee society is sometimes creative and clever. But a similar concept was already explored by the DreamWorks Animation folks in the superior Antz, with Woody Allen as the restless worker insect, and Seinfeld doesn’t seem to have much of a point to make with his story. Despite the massive amount of time it takes to create a computer-animated film like this, the movie feels like something Seinfeld tossed off in an afternoon. If this is what he’s going to come out of hiding for, he’d be better off spending his time counting his money.
Bee Movie
**1/2
Voices of Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Rated PG
Opens Friday