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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 54 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
5 OK for kids 5+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Agreeably skewed fun. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    At its relaxed best, when it's about, well, nothing, the slyly comic Bee Movie is truly beguiling. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    The real fun is the insect shtick. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    Has a few charming moments and a scene or two with legitimate hilarity, but mostly it's just mediocre. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Unfortunately, bees just aren't that funny...Nor is the odd story Seinfeld and his collaborators dreamed up very inspired. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    There's no real jeopardy. The stakes are low. It's a bee movie about nothing. Read full review

  • 50
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    All of this material, written by Seinfeld and writers associated with his television series, tries hard, but never really takes off. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Amiable but no more, Bee Movie puts a hiveful of potent talent at the service of a zig-zigging, back-of-an-envelope story that's short on surprise and originality. Read full review

  • 40
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    The more the movie progresses, the more you realize how much Seinfeld's voice sounds like a droning bee -- the kind you want to swat away. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    It's so unfunny it almost stings. Read full review

View more reviews for Bee Movie on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 5+ Seinfeld comedy is cute fun for the whole family.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this has been one of the most aggressively marketed animated movies in recent history. Jerry Seinfeld has left no promotional stone unturned, so chances are that if you've had NBC on in the house for more than 20 minutes, your kids have seen a commercial for this movie. The good news is that it's a film that even preschoolers can follow, and while there are a few tense moments (mostly involving Barry's pell-mell flights through Manhattan), there are no overarching villains or monsters -- or even that many pop-culture references to frighten or confuse kids. There are still a few jokes that will go over little heads, but they're mostly about things like being "Beeish" (the insect equivalent of being Jewish), Larry King, and the boredom of working too hard. Oh, and a mosquito makes a blood-sucking lawyer joke.
  • Families can talk about what made kids want to see this movie -- the story or all the ads and product tie-ins. Was it "buzzworthy" of all the marketing hype? What parts of the movie are intended to appeal to kids, and which ones are meant for adults? How can you tell? Families can also discuss why the bees, particularly Barry, wanted their honey returned. Kids: What were the consequences of this? What did you learn about bees and nature? Does honey seem more important now than before you saw the film?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: The bees at first rally together to reclaim their own honey but later realize their pivotal role in keeping the environment beautiful. Barry initially blows off his responsibilities in the hive but learns how important even the smallest job can be. Vanessa sticks up for Barry (before she even knows he can talk) and saves him from getting squashed, asserting the value of every creature's life. Ken behaves very childishly, but it's all played for laughs.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence and scariness: Barry imagines Vanessa crashing and blowing up. He also has a terrifying flight across Manhattan in which he's almost killed several times. Bugs on a windshield are wiped away for good (some already dead, some still alive). Bees in a honey farm are gassed with smoke by beekeepers.
  • sex false0 Sexy stuff: Barry daydreams about Vanessa; he and Vanessa spend a lot of time together, but they never have more than an interspecies friendship. Some mild innuendo that kids likely won't get (an older bee male talking about the time he dated a cricket, for example). Some jokes based on the idea of interspecies dating.
  • language false0 Language: Mild: a mosquito makes a lawyer joke about blood-sucking parasites.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: New York Post, Daily Variety, Timberland boots are all mentioned/featured. Lots of brand-name honey is featured, but all of the brands are fictional.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A passerby's unpleasant cigarette smoke inspires Barry's defense in his legal case. Billowing smoke from beekeepers' smoke guns.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

2.0

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… pretty dull … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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