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To be fair, I should post a disclaimer right here: I don't like
animated films, especially 3D animation. So perhaps there is some bias to my opinion here.
The only CGI epic I've ever truly enjoyed was Toy Story, and that's because I first saw it when I was, you know, a
kid.
However, I can admit when a film is good, even when I don't like
it - even if it's an animated film. Kung Fu Panda was a good
film. Wall-E was an astonishing film.
Space Chimps,
however, is a series of unfunny chimp puns which are animated poorly
and lacks any kind of dramatic tension or entertainment value
whatsoever.
The plot can be summed up in one unfortunate sentence: NASA sends three chimpanzees (Patrick Warburton, Cheryl Hines and Hot Rod's Andy Samberg) to investigate a discovery made by one of their roving probes.
Oh wait, make that two sentences: Hijinks ensue.
As you can see, the voice talent was not lacking: "David Puddy", "Larry David's wife", and "The semi-funny guy from SNL" voice the main three characters, with Jeff Daniels as "Bad Alien Guy" and Stanley Tucci as "Bad Human Guy".
It's the script that is to blame.
A
weak plot with little to keep the audience interested or invested and
dialogue that sounds like it was actually written by chimps makes Space Chimps one of the worst animated films to hit DVD shelves in 2009.
And you know what's worse?
Not
only was the film soured by the poor script, it's was animation is
sub-par in a constantly improving CGI world to boot. Some of the
textures are just plain poor, with clearly tiled backgrounds and floors
that are distracting at best.
The animation is sub-video game quality. Hell, our pals over at the Web Wombat Games Channel have played the game... visually, it ain't all that different.
Sure, some sequences are passable, but most are bad at best.
Before
I end this inexplicably angry diatribe - why does every single
animated film have to be voiced by celebrity actors?!?
The
modern era has gone down an unfortunately celeb-happy casting path, and
it seems that Vanguard blew their wad of cash on actors and didn't save
any for script re-writes or animation.
Why not employ professional voice actors and pay them a fair amount of money?
Why dole out mountains for molehills?
Look,
all I'm trying to say is - effort goes a long way to creating quality.
Hell, with the talent on board, surely they could have...
Chimp-rovised... a better film.
DVD EXTRAS There are no DVD extras to be found on the Region 4
release of Space Chimps. Not even an audio commentary. An audio
commentary with Patrick Warburton and Andy Samberg might have made this
viewing more bearable. Sadly, it did not exist. Sidenote: For real
chimp fun, YouTube "Karl Pilkington Monkey News". You won't regret it. Conclusion:
Movie 20% Extras: N/A
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