Who's in It: Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson, Larry King, Ray Liotta, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Miller, Megan Mullally, Rip Torn, Michael Richards
The Basics: First, it's about a bee that dreams of being outside the hive instead of working nonstop; then it's about a bee — same bee — falling in love with Zellweger, which is weird, and the whole interspecies romance thing is never fully explained; then it's about a bee — still, same bee, and from here on out, I'll still be talking about the same bee — that's upset that humans are eating honey; then it's about a bee that becomes a lawyer and sues the people of Earth; finally, it's about a bee that flies a jet airplane. They could do this forever with sequels. The next movie, he'll be a bee that wants to make artisanal cheese who becomes hell-bent on revenge when his family is attacked by street thugs.
What's the Deal? Every 10 minutes or so, something that'll make you chuckle happens. But for a comedy starring the voice of Seinfeld, one co-written by Seinfeld, you'd think there'd be more funny stuff going on. As it is, it's pretty dull, has no sense of where it wants to go beyond a vague "we need the bees" environmental message and features not one single interestingly designed character — neither human nor bee-ish. And it wants me to feel guilty for putting honey in my tea? (P.S.: This part of the review is, coincidentally, always called "What's the Deal?" and is not a lame Seinfeld reference.)
The True Moral(s) of the Film: There's no place like home. Have dreams but be realistic about them. Don't be lazy or anti-work. If you're Ray Liotta or Sting, have final say on how they design a character that's supposed to look just like you.
Like 2006 Again: That was the year of no great animated films. There were a few good ones and a lot of horrible ones, and almost all of them were just like this movie, full of talking animals and actually about next to nothing. Though 2007's been a little better, there's a real creative slump happening out there, and this movie is just another symptom. And there's no end in sight. They can keep making these forever. They can make another bee movie if they want. They did it with ants. IT WILL NEVER END.
If Only Real Life Were Like This: Sting winds up being hauled off to some sort of unspecified punishment, just for being named Sting. Net result: No one ever has to listen to his terrible music again.