Space Chimps

source: Space Chimps

Have you seen movies that almost wore you out after 45 minutes? Im talking about too much action, too much bickering and yelling between people, too much happening the screen, too loud.....just too much. You want to cry, "enough, already....give us a few lulls!" That's how found this cute-at-first animated film which starts off great but quickly spirals into the "too much" category and never lets go. Maybe I'm just too old for this sort of thing; maybe this is what five or ten-year-olds want....but I'm not surprised this animated film wasn't a hit - with adults or some kids. Don't get wrong: there are a number of funny lines in here, the animation is great in spots, and some of the characters (i.e. "Kilowatt") are very appealing. It's just that the film feels rushed, right from the start. One can never just settle down and enjoy the stories, character and artwork. This story needed more lulls. It also need less ("wink" "wink") inside, pretentious remarks by the writers, who tried too hard to get their PC agendas in here throughout. The "heroes," the space chimps, were always bickering among themselves. That led to some funny put-down lines but also got tiring, too, after almost an hour of it. The villain, "Zartog," meanwhile, was just plain stupid. Nobody that silly/dumb, even in science fiction, could rule anyone. In all, it was just too disjointed and too frenetic - all the while being predictable - to enjoy. Although only 80 minutes in length, I found myself often checking how much time was left in the film.

The writing in Space Chimps feels very Family Guy esquire, which I am not at all a fan of. Whilst there's (virtually) no offensive language or crudeness, the gags almost solely depend on quick-fire references to other films and TV shows etc. For me, this gets tedious and is a very lazy way to write comedy IMO. For my 3 1/2 year old, it's not possible for him to understand any of the references. He's too young for Space Chimps and if I had known, I wouldn't have taken him. Even for 8 year-olds I think the references would be way before their time. It's as if the gags are written ONLY for adults, which to me puts the film in a no-mans land where it is neither for kids nor their parents. The way CGI films should be made, is that a script meant for real actors, which is technically too costly to achieve "in the flesh", can then be made using CGI. In reality, there's probably a think-tank of people who design the visuals and then the script, which is why many of these ventures are weak.

After the first ten minutes of this movie I knew I was in for a long 90 minutes. The opening sequence was nothing great, and the aliens looked like a cross between Boobah's and oompah loompahs! Andy Samberg (as Ham the third) has a couple funny moments, but the comedy for the most part is truly horrible one liners that you'd expect to hear on an unpopular Cartoon Network show. Patrick Warburton (who I've always found funny, ever since his Putty days on Seinfeld) is a bit type-casted here as the burly but dumb guy (or chimp I should say), and not really funny at all in the movie. I think the biggest surprise to me was Jeff Daniels as the enemy alien. How did he stoop to this level?? Not that I'm a huge Jeff Daniels fan, but he just didn't seem to fit the rest of the cast at all. I actually don't remember the last time I was at a movie with my wife and we both looked at each other at least three times rolling our eyes at the corny, almost embarrassing "jokes" in this movie. I will say that my 5 year old and 8 year old loved it and insist that we will buy it on DVD when it comes out (which shouldn't be too long considering it's flopping). So, the kids will love it, but don't expect to have a good time at this one.

I'm not really sure what you people were looking for, but this movie was, at worst, fairly enjoyable. It will not win the academy award for best animated film, but there are thousands of other, much, much worse animated films out there. This review isn't to help anyone decide if they should rent the movie or not (maybe I'm biased because I only paid $1.00 to rent it?), but more so to just defend it a little bit. My 5 and 6 year old sons got a kick out of it. THAT'S IT. Review could be over here. They are intelligent boys who have seen some great kids movies - and they recognize the great ones. They know this one was not one of the best movies they've ever seen. And they don't care. They pretty much enjoyed it, and that's all you should expect. It was a G-rated movie which is nice to see (they're watching "Surf's Up" - free on cable right now - and one of the characters said "crap" which I don't like). It had an OK plot, OK/somewhat amusing characters, some excitement, some funny stuff, a clear point/moral (people who don't catch that should NOT be allowed to write reviews). Stop making more of it than it is. I mean, one reviewer - or maybe it was on a message board - said (and I'm paraphrasing just a little bit), "I didn't connect with any of the characters AND NEITHER DID MY 4 YEAR OLD SON." I wonder how exactly they asked their 4-yr old the question... "honey, did you feel a connection with any of the Space Chimps? How about the aliens? No, none of them either? Hmmm, I thought so..." C'MON!! Hey, if you paid $10 bucks a pop to see this one, well shame on you. But otherwise, get over it, folks! It's not that bad.

This film ranks among the worst films I have ever seen in my entire life. Not a single joke was funny, not a single image of the film nice to look at or worth remembering. The last minutes of the film, where the "bad guys" of the film are present the most, were almost unwatchable considering the awful designs of the creatures, and the absence of wit and ideas in the plot. I had the feeling I was watching a badly designed video game whose graphics are below average. At times watching it felt like torture for me and if I hadn't had a principle of never walking out on a film I would have left the theater. Simply put, it is one of the worst and ugliest films I have seen.

It was funny, well written and very entertaining. I would recommend this flick to anyone whom has children. I took my two boys, ages 5 and 8 and it was better than I was expecting. With a name like "Space Chimps", I was really expecting that the movie would leave me feeling like a Space Chump. But both kids loved the movie and I thought it was reasonably entertaining. It had a number of decent jokes that the kids appreciated and I got a chuckle out of some of them. It won't win any awards, but in the name of entertaining the kids it was worthwhile.It is also a nice change of pace from all the shoot'em up, bring me down or make me cry type films... this is just fun and a good time to spend with the family movie.

This film hooked my interest from the very beginning and held it uninterruptedly until the closing credits. I found the story to be original, exciting, well paced, moving, and relevant to a number of the issues people face today. This is very much more than just a kids' action film. There is also plenty in it for the adult mind to contemplate such as a number of political and social issues. For example (on the political level) such things as what excites and motivates different individuals, how tyrannical dictatorships arise and silence opposition by fear, and (on the social level) the problems that becoming too estranged from one's origins can create (e.g. inability to show love for each other). The film has plenty of imaginatively depicted characters - as well as the odd rather scary beastie - and every speaking character (except one) is in some way likable. Dialogue is witty and, whilst probably being far beyond being fully understandable by children of under, say, ten years, it is accompanied by visuals that make such full understanding unnecessary in order for the vast majority of children to be able to 'absorb' the significance of what is happening. Finally, there is also a story of developing romance that runs throughout the film. In this respect (and others) Space Chimps reminds me very much of Toy Story 2 - a film of which I'd go so far as to say that 'Chimps' is arguably the equal! What more could anyone ask for? Definitely a ten out of ten for me. Highly recommended.

This CGI animated movie is not complex or sophisticated. It is a simple story of very clever chimps, full of human characteristics, being sent through a space warp to a planet full of aliens, and emerging triumphant. It is aimed at kids, although there are gags in it for adults. It is bright and colourful, the characters (humans, chimps and aliens) are all engaging, the alien world is imaginative, the action flows well, the dialogue is fun, and the story is easy to follow. If I sound a little half-hearted, then it's because I am. Despite all the good things listed above, the movie itself comes across as a little half-hearted. The animation, for instance, while adequate, isn't up to the standard we've become used to in CGI features. The voice cast perform OK, but aren't particularly high profile (Jeff Daniels and Stanley Tucci are the top names). And there's at least one matter which we expected to see resolved before the end, but which is still hanging loose. I enjoyed it, but was left feeling.... The kids loved it, though.

9 year old, 6 years old and 2 year old all loved this movie. The audience was heard laughing very frequently. Why so many haters? I suppose if the movie isn't a pixar smash it must be terrible. Wrong! Take your kids to see the movie! Worst part of the movie was once again the pre-movie commercials. The movie was as a basic story but new and refreshing -- no global warming preaching and I loved the aliens, as absurd of an Alien world as one could think of! If your kids don't like this movie, well, why not! Nice Summer Movie For All. To Review :9 year old, 6 years old and 2 year old all loved this movie. The audience was heard laughing very frequently. Why so many haters? I suppose if the movie isn't a pixar smash it must be terrible