Jerry Seinfeld is a bit of an interesting case to me. I used to hate his insanely popular TV series, but over time, have slowly become quite fond of it. And when I heard that he was prepping his own animated film to basically follow it up with, I was a little worried. But rather intriguingly, Seinfeld has pulled off quite the animated picture, albeit one that is distinctively Seinfeldian.<br /><br />In Bee Movie, Seinfeld voices Barry B. Benson, a young bee who just graduated from school (which seems to only take less than two weeks to complete). Disenfranchised from the whole idea of working the same job for the rest of his life within the hive at the Honex Corporation, Barry journeys outside the hive and what he discovers just may change bee/human relations forever.<br /><br />Even at its most ridiculous moments, Bee Movie packs a lot of fun into ninety minutes. Comical moments fly at every waking instance, and in some instances, are just absolutely riotous. I was not expecting a whole lot by way of genuine adult humour (disguised nicely like anything from Pixar, or just shoved in rather blatantly like in the recent Shrek the Third), but Seinfeld manages to land just enough jokes to impress even the most avid haters of his TV show. A lot of the humour is clearly Seinfeldian in its conception, but it manages to feel a lot fresher than one would imagine, especially from a stand-up comedian. It just has that pure comic zest that many writers search for, and can never quite nail down. Here, Seinfeld and company do it rather easily, and still have plenty of room left to continue on.<br /><br />But there are some downer moments joke wise, and a few that just seem like Seinfeld is trying to hit the young audience by bashing them over the head with his ideas. I realize the man is not subtle, but clearly children are either going to get the joke, or just laugh at some of the words the character ends up using because they sound remotely amusing. Seinfeld just does not grasp this at all time, and unfortunately, makes some scenes feel a little forced. Likewise, and not so much a criticism, but there is a bit too much dark humour for a children's film. A lot of the moments are clever and not too obvious, but some just stick out as being bad form for a children's flick. I appreciated it, and I know the people around me did, but when we are the only ones laughing in a room full of screaming five-year-olds, I think there may be an issue content-wise.<br /><br />But even with its off and on dialogue, the story still manages to be effective and rather clever and creative. Barry journeying outside of the hive is not all that original an idea, but some of the hijinx that ensue are. In a time where everything seems to be a ripoff of everything else (and a few scenes here are no different), it was nice to see some element of a film feel unique and original.<br /><br />The voice-work on the other hand, is a very mixed bag. On one hand, Seinfeld just does wonders embodying Barry. Even when the character ends up clearly being him, he manages to use his voice to project a certain finesse and gravitas that not a lot of big name actors can do when they do voice-work. If I had no idea who Seinfeld was, I might even have been inclined to think he was a voice actor all along (albeit one with a rather whiney Jewish sensibility about himself). He is not perfect by any means, but he does a really great job of providing his distinctive voice to a character I doubt could sound any other way.<br /><br />On the other hand, Seinfeld manages to outshine the entirety of the cast voice wise. His enthusiasm is unparalleled, and as a result, no one sounds as good as he does, and nobody even seems to be attempting to even try and match his level of intensity. In fact, the likes of Matthew Broderick do not seem to even care about how they sound. They just voice the part like any other, and seem to not really want to have any fun with it. Even veteran voice actor Patrick Warburton (who appeared on Seinfeld) does not seem to be having a whole lot of fun with his role, and usually his characters are some of the most memorable because of his voice work. I will say though, it was nice to hear Michael Richards voicing a character, bit part or not (although not so nice to not hear Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Larry David at all). Some of the wacky celebrity cameo voices like Chris Rock, Larry King, Sting and Ray Liotta were amusing to hear as well.<br /><br />The animation, as wonderful and vibrant as it is, is still not up to the par Pixar is setting. Yes, Barry is immaculately detailed. A lot of the bees look great too. But the humans he encounters just do not seem to have that jive about them. They look good, but when it comes down to precise and meticulous details (such as in the brilliantly detailed Ratatouille), they just do not have them. The cars driven by the bees (yes, bees drive cars within the hive) and the humans fare even worse, basically looking like small blobs on wheels. What happened to even attempting to compete in the animation market? Did Dreamworks concede defeat and not bother telling anyone? Because it sure looks like it. It still looks great, but it just does not attempt to overcome any barriers.<br /><br />Bee Movie, even with its problems, is still a treat to watch. I laughed harder and enjoyed the movie so much more than I could have imagined. I just wish they went a little further.<br /><br />7.5/10.