Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I don’t know what to expect from this one. I know I don’t like the visual style that they’re showing off with the most recent trailers, and there are enough godawful bee puns in the ads I’ve seen so far to last me a lifetime. But Seinfeld’s a smart comic, and I have to hope that there’s more to this film than the trailers suggest.

Check out this spy’s reaction, though. He’s the first person I’ve heard back from who has actually seen it:

Did you ever get the sense that Dreamworks animation isn't living up to its talent?

I do. I saw BEE MOVIE at a screening yesterday. And I was profoundly disappointed, just as I thought I would be.

I've always thought the title "BEE MOVIE" was incredibly bland and wholly lacking in creativity. It's almost as if they bought this pitch and said "we'll give it a real name someday ", and just never got around to it. And that's how the rest fo the movie plays out. At times, it doesn't seem to know what it is, or where it's going. The story changes focus around four times, and not in the "somehow this all works itself out in the end" way.

The desgin is awful, overtly bubbly and round-edged, right down to the little "Jelly cars" the bees drive around in. Yeah. I said cars. Why fly when you can wait in traffic? Also, the bees in the movie suffer from what I call "Pseudo-ANTZ syndrme, with all-too human faces and plasticine limbs. Up to this point, Dreamworks seemd to be pushing the boundaries of what computer animation can do. But the humans in this film look far more fake and "action-figure-ish" than they did in OVER THE HEDGE.

BEE MOVIE is also missing chunks of what seem like necessary "reaction". Only one person in the film seems alrmed that bees can talk. The rest just kinda go along with it. The movie never gives you what you want. Just when you're hoping someone would squash this annoying little "pat-myself-on-the-backer" chatterbox, no one does it! And by the time Jerry "I'm not as funny as people think" Sienfeld gets throuh his third or fourth line of dialogue, you really want him to stop. The jokes are lame, lame, lame, and you NEVER feel a thing for his character.

You're supposed to feel sympathy, or affection, or side with a film's main character. but I wanted him dead! I wanted to see a dog take a crap on him. ANYTHING, but listen to him prattle on for an hour and a half. And that's part of this movie's problem. too much talking, not enough action. ( and I usually like lots of good dialogue in a movie)

And for God's sake, when will Hollywood stop hiring Patrick Warburton to do the same, beef consuming alpha-male Joe Swanson-esque lout character that seems to be in every film and television show out there? He plays this big beefy teenis player guy who screams a lot and like yogurt enough to have a hissyfit! He spouts a billion lines about "I"M ALLERGIC TO BEES! THEY MAKE ME SWELL UP!" And after all that, they never let that happen! I wanted to see this guy all swollen up and in a hospital, gasping for breath! But again, i didn't get what I wanted to see, which tye were clearly telegraphing.

If I could beseech Dreamworks, I'd BEG them to make an animated movie that really takes advantage of animation as a medium. Do something about Vampires, Werewolves, a murder mystery, drugs, war, an alien story, or just...ANYTHING that hasn't been done ( badly )in animation before, and to do it without having to worry about the kiddie audience. Manga and anime have proven there is a GIGANTIC adult audience who loves animation, and don't want to have to sit through another kid-friendly animal/insect film that barely pushes the limits, is afraid to do anything profound or dramatic, and is forwever stuck in the "animation is for retards" syndrome. BEE MOVIE will make adults roll their eyes.

Which is a pity, because if there was EVER a studio that has the talent and power to make films like that, it's Dreamworks.