Bee Movie

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Agreeably skewed fun.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

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

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Kids are going to adore looking at this movie, living in it, flying through and above its brilliant landscape. It's an animated joyride over a relief map of Manhattan. I just wish the script was as good as the paint.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Dazzling fun. Jerry is master of a new domain.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The movie's not even close to Pixar standards - the animation is slapdash and the story construction's a mess - but the vibe is loose-limbed and fluky, and the gags have an extra snap that's recognizably Seinfeldian.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It has enough buzzing wit and eye-popping animation to win over the kids - and probably more than a few parents, too.

Newsweek David Ansen

I'm not sure what kids are going to make of Bee Movie. The shiny, vivid computer-animated images pop off the screen with the vibrancy of the Pixar movies, but the understated, throwaway humor is pure Seinfeld: adult, observational, feasting on the small ironies of human (make that "beeish") behavior.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The real fun is the insect shtick.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Jerry Seinfeld's foray into feature animation will delight young kids and leave their elders alternately amused and bemused.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

It's good to have Seinfeld back, even in this watered-down form.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Andy Spletzer

The riskiest move Seinfeld made was to create an unlikable protagonist who is wrong every step of the way, but treat him like a hero.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This candy-colored animated fable is an awkward mix of corny bee puns, clever sight gags, kid-friendly action, adult-centric workplace angst and Seinfeld's distinctive navel-gazing wit. And what's up with those four-legged bees?

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Much of this wordplay is clever, though there’s something off with the plotting.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

On the whole, this is another disappointing animated effort and it resides considerably lower on the totem pole than this year's current non-live action champion, "Ratatouille."

Empire Sam Toy

The depth of talent in the cast and gag writing shines through, but it’s only just enough to take your mind off of the flat animation.

Slate Dana Stevens

The movie's more than cute, funny, and (at 81 minutes) brisk enough to move families in and out of the multiplex in mass quantities, like the social insects we are.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

If an animated movie isn't competing with Pixar to dazzle the eye, it had darn well better hit the heart or the funny bone. With its wee little stinger, Bee Movie misses both.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Feels so slight and trivial, like a cute but small idea blown up to proportions it does not merit. A surprisingly unfunny, belabored and unimaginative comedy, Bee Movie is a huge disappointment considering the extent of Seinfeld's participation.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Just another ambitious, lavish animated adventure, pretty enough to look at, but ultimately foundering on the weakness of its script.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The whole thing's pretty cute and breezy, but don't expect logic or coherence.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Maybe Bee Movie is another ground-breaking show about nothing – a hornet's nest of hype for a fat hive of nothing. If so, pay up and get stung.

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.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

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

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

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

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

No nectar of the gods this, but we can still be thankful that Bee Movie is a sweet morsel that's devoid of any jokes about bee farts and poop.

LA Weekly Robert Wilonsky

For all the muscle and money behind Bee Movie, it still feels unfocused and unfinished.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Best viewed as an oddball career move rather than as a successful movie.

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.

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.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

The result is oddly schizoid, but also so insubstantial that to call it oddly schizoid suggests a weight it doesn't have.

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.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The film will be huge. It’s busy. It’s kinetic. It’s a treat for kids. But like much of Seinfeld’s work outside his TV show, it’s impersonal. It doesn’t come from anywhere interesting.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's so unfunny it almost stings.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Bee Movie isn't a B movie, it's a Z movie, as in dizmal.