Fall Movie Preview - Bee Movie
14.09 03:03 - Fall Movie Preview - Bee Movie
I've spoken a couple of times to Spike Feresten, one of the writers of Bee Movie, the host of Talkshow with Spike Feresten on Fox, and from my interaction with him, an all-around nice guy. So I mean no offense when I say this but, I just don't get the buzz about this Bee.Having seen trailers and reading plot outlines, there's just zero here that interests me. And knowing that every November, a new Oscar frontrunner is released in the animated category, it makes me feel even more strongly that this is just a crassly commercialized, rudimentary, family comedy, slicked up by Jerry Seinfeld's presence, his first appearance in a movie (not counting his documentary).
I've been wrong before, but the details are always the same with animated flicks these days: A non-human (in this case a bee) finds himself caught in a foreign world (in this case, the big city) and is forced to rely on his cunning to make it out alive.
That's the setup of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Happy Feet, Madagascar and the list goes on and on. About the only fresh idea I can find here is that Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld) decides to sue humans when he discovers humans actually eat it. Of course, any positive vibes that twist provides is overshadowed by the laziness of the name Barry B. Benson.
Big names? Sure: Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Chris Rock, and Matthew Broderick highlight the talented cast. But that still doesn't make Bee Movie look compelling. In fact, it's probably the opposite. The reliance on huge stars undercuts the story. Look at the Brad Bird movies. He casts voices, not names. And his movies are, pardon the pun, incredible.
Bee Movie will command a huge amount of cash this November, however, no matter how it strikes me in September. After all, it's designed to be a box office champ, prompting me to quote one of my favorite movie lines: "It's no trick to make a lot of money... if what you want to do is make a lot of money."
more... back...