Space Chimps (2008)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Kirk De Micco

Writers:

Kirk De Micco (screenplay) and
Robert Moreland (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Romance | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Ham III, the grandson of the first chimp astronaut, is blasted off into space by an opportunity-seeking senator...

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Senator | Surprise After End Credits | Computer Animation | Circus

Cast

Andy Samberg	...	Ham III (voice)
Cheryl Hines	...	Luna (voice)
Jeff Daniels	...	Zartog (voice)
Patrick Warburton	...	Titan (voice)
Kristin Chenoweth	...	Kilowatt (voice)
Kenan Thompson	...	Ringmaster (voice)
Carlos Alazraqui	...	Houston (voice)
Zack Shada	...	Comet (voice)
Omid Abtahi	...	Dr. Jagu (voice)
Patrick Breen	...	Dr. Bob (voice)
Jane Lynch	...	Dr. Poole (voice)
Kath Soucie	...	Dr. Smothers (voice)
Stanley Tucci	...	Senator (voice)
Wally Wingert	...	Splork / Infinity Probe / Pappy Ham (voice)
Jessica Gee	...	Ship Voice / Infinity Probe / Additional Voices (voice)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Hong Kong:I | UK:U | Australia:PG | Canada:G (British Columbia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Ireland:G | USA:G (certificate #44279) | Australia:G (re-rating on appeal) | Singapore:G | Sweden:Btl | Finland:K-7 | Chile:TE | Netherlands:6 | New Zealand:G | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT

Company:

Vanguard Animation

Trivia:

Fittingly, the teaser ad for this movie premiered on June 20th 2008 during a Fox broadcast of another 'Monkey in Space' movie - 2001's remake of "Planet of the Apes".

Goofs:

Factual errors: The chimpanzees are all small, even Houston, who is much older than the others. Fully grown chimpanzees are roughly the same size as humans.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Houston: Oh, Lord.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Right Stuff (1983)

Soundtrack:

Pops Got The Measles

A Nutshell Review: Space Chimps

I'm going to admit that I've enjoyed Space Chimps. No, I've not gone bananas, but there's something beautiful to this goofy animated comedy that appealed, perhaps in its simplicity and its not attempting to try and be more than it cannot be.

Ham III (voiced by Andy Samberg). a circus monkey whose the key to the "monkey cannonball" act, happens to be the descendant of its decorated ancestor Ham I, the first monkey to have entered outer space. As NASA does send animals early in their history of missions to perform certain tests, and more so as guinea pigs, their current space programme is under threat of being axed, unless of course the scientists can all prove their worth. Just so happens that a space probe gets send to the opposite side of a wormhole, that it presents an opportunity to send a crack team of animals to the other side as well to test waters, hence the assembly of our merry animals.

You have Ham III, the reluctant astronaut put into the team for some PR purpose, who joins the usual caricatures of team captain and beefcake Titan, as well as beautiful Luna, who provides the brains for the mission and cursory love interest for our protagonist chimp. On the ground, besides the wacky human scientists who always deny their nerd status, you have Comet and Houston, fellow chimps who provide ground expertise to our crew's mission in space. Truth is, and a departure in animated movies of late, this one is sans big name stars or voice talent, and doesn't detract you away from the story, nor have one talent steal the thunder from the rest. Like a well oiled space mission, Space Chimps is and plays out like a consolidated team effort.

The adversary they face are a group of silly aliens under the control of Zartog, who consolidated his power no thanks to the human space probe by hitting the manual override button, as well as various environmental challenges reminiscent of the latest Journey to the Center of the Earth, and provides ample opportunity for some pretty wacky characters, with set action pieces like swinging from vine to vine, making more sense here when compared to that in The Crystal Skull.

The graphics here are kept simple and uncomplicated. It's easy to find fault with so many things in this movie, given the likes of Pixar which has set the benchmark, but as I've said, I'm not looking for too much, and the simplicity of it all in Space Chimps makes it a refreshing breath of fresh air. The story at times might find itself hard pressed to throw in some wisecracks on pop culture, but there are indeed moments to have it in the movie so subtly, you'll probably blink and you miss it. If you're willing to leave your 1% intellect at the door, perhaps you may just enjoy this movie about primates that exhibit similar emotions and attributes to our own.