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Movies / On DVD / Space Chimps
Space Chimps

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Space Chimps (2008)

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Reviews Counted:89

Fresh:33

Rotten:56

Average Rating:4.7/10

Consensus: Space Chimps' cheap animation and overabundance of monkey puns feels especially dated in a post-Wall-E world.

Australian Rating: PG [See Full Rating] Mild threatening scenes

Runtime: 81 mins

Genre: Childrens

Australian Theatrical Release:
Sep 4, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $29,942,542

Synopsis: Circus monkey Ham III (voiced by Andy Samberg) works in a circus where he's regularly shot from a canon but he still lives in the shadow of his father's legacy (Ham I was the first chimp shot into... Circus monkey Ham III (voiced by Andy Samberg) works in a circus where he's regularly shot from a canon but he still lives in the shadow of his father's legacy (Ham I was the first chimp shot into space in 1961). A natural born rebel against authority, Ham the third is initially reluctant to go on a dangerous space mission to rescue a lost space probe, but away he goes, for lots of RIGHT STUFF-style astro-training alongside two highly prepared chimps, Luna and Titan (Cheryl Hines and Patrick Warburton). NASA's by-the-book methods jar with Ham's mischief-making of course, but once the space training ends, the mission begins, with myriad dangers along the way, including: a big-toothed monster and a run amok alien named Zartog (Jeff Daniels) whose harnessed the previous space probe for world-domination purposes, all good opportunities for Ham III to redeem himself. Despite all the fangs, parents shouldn't worry too much; not a hair on any chimp is seriously singed, and along the pratfall strewn way there's time for lessons about responsibility and realization of one's full potential. While the animation here is not quite up to Pixar level, it's still pretty and colorful, with a pleasing Candyland quality to the alien planet surface. Samberg brings a savvy zest to his vocal duties as the Ham, Stanley Tucci is a nefarious senator and--getting big laughs with flawlessly deadpan elan--Patrick Breen as one of the trio of egghead scientists. Kird De Micco directed; based on the computer video game. [More]

Starring: Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Patrick Warburton

Starring: Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Stanley Tucci, Omid Abtahi, Patrick Breen, Kenan Thompson, Carlos Alazraqui, Kath Soucie, Jane Lynch

Director: Kirk De Micco

Director: Kirk De Micco
Screenwriter: Kirk De Micco, Rob Moreland
Story: Kirk De Micco
Producer: John H. Williams, Barry Sonnenfeld
Composer: Chris Bacon
Studio: 20th Century Fox

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Space Chimps

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61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

With cheapie effects and a barrage of monkey puns, Space Chimps is too often content with only going halfway.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
07/18/08
Jim Slotek
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

Why would you take your kids to see Space Chimps, an uninspired animated feature about chimp astronauts, when you could take them instead to see Wall-E.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
07/18/08
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

A lighthearted treat for pint-sized moviegoers with tender tastes, featuring a clownish slacker living in the shadow of his famous astronaut dad, who learns to stop monkeying around and be a capable chimp off the old block.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
07/18/08
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Worse are the chimps themselves. Their bodies are realistic in all the wrong ways, with grotesque appendages and unpleasantly textured fur, while the expressions on their unadorable mugs are entirely devoid of humanity.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
07/18/08
Jason McBride
Jason McBride
Globe and Mail

The CG animation is nothing special, but the characters are surprisingly fun and the story is full of enough puns, wordplay and slapstick to elicit laughs from across the age spectrum.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
07/18/08
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter

Journalism is all about having the courage to write the truth even if it will get you mocked by your relatives and co-workers, so here goes: Space Chimps is hilarious.

comment Comment
07/18/08
Neil Genzlinger
Neil Genzlinger
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Space Chimps is delightful from beginning to end: A goofy space opera.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 4 Comments
07/18/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I never thought that a movie with a terrible song playing like the "Monkeyrena" would actually keep me entertained and make me laugh, but it did. It still has nothing on Wall-E.

Full Review Source: BDK Reviews | comment Comment
07/18/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
BDK Reviews

[S]tarts out merely a misbegotten mess... And then it all turns terrifying...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
07/17/08
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

...a good addition to this summer's family movie entertainment with its meaningful messages made appealing by a solid sense of humor.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
07/17/08
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

It is actually kind of funny and entertaining despite the fact that it looks and sounds as though it is anything but that.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/17/08
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

The animation looks unfinished, with a kind of lifeless mechanical sheen replacing actual textures.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
07/17/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

consistently goes for the cheap laughs, mining way too many jokes out of puns, pratfalls, and the occasional reference to poop (these are apes, after all)

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/17/08
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

Space Chimps may not be top-flight entertainment, but as kid movies travel, it’s unexpectedly engaging.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
07/17/08
Sue Pierman
Sue Pierman
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Despite its promising concept, the film is filled with lame pop-culture references and groan-worthy puns, and its technical aspects pale in comparison to those in the recent animated hits Kung Fu Panda and WALL*E.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
07/17/08
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Like a poorly designed videogame, it's as much a test of endurance of repetition as anything else.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
07/17/08
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

One of those cartoons parents at least won't mind sitting through while little Miss or Mister Eight-and-younger gets his or her chuckles at the cute talking primates.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
07/17/08
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

The film is no classic, certainly, but it's not one of those throwaway puff pieces, either.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
07/17/08
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

As bland matinee diversions go, Chimps isn't the worst thing to plop your child in front of, but it's hardly worth the hundreds of dollars it takes to get a family to the movie theater these days.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
07/17/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

monkey business has rarely been so amusing.

Full Review Source: Gazette (MD) | comment Comment
07/17/08
Jeffrey Lyles
Jeffrey Lyles
Gazette (MD)
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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