Space Chimps (2008)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

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

Color:

Color

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

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:

Luna: Chimps don't leave chimps behind.
Ham III: Yeah, but here's an idea: let's leave him.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

Pops Got The Measles

Nothing special, nothing memorable, but it's cute for the kids

When I saw the trailer for Space Chimps, I honestly thought it looked cute and fun, also they mentioned that it was made by the same folks who did Shrek, so I figured that it was going to be gold. I was first off a little surprised that it didn't do so hot at the box office, not only that, but it has a pretty low rating here on IMDb. I was thinking how this movie was probably awful, but how could it be? It's an animation film, so I still wanted to see it, I checked it out today and honestly, it's not a 4.4 rating movie, I think people are being a little too harsh on it. I agree that it's nothing special, but it's a cute movie that had it's moments. Opening the same weekend as The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia, we needed a good hearted film for the family as well, and Space Chimps does deliver on that.

Ham is a chimp who is the grandson of a famous chimp astronaut who was the first chimp in space. When there is possible life found on another planet, three scientists decide to experiment and instead of risking human life, the send out the chimps including Ham to space to find the alien life form. Ham, Luna, and Titon are sent out into space, but Ham isn't taking it seriously, constantly joking around, hitting on Luna, Titon constantly taking credit for everything. When they do land on the planet, they meet some interesting creatures and have to save the planet since one alien, Zartog, wants to take over.

Space Chimps isn't a bad movie, it's just nothing special, I'd recommend waiting for the rental. It's a cute movie thought for the little ones. But I did enjoy a few scenes, I loved the line Titon says to Ham "Are you David Bowie?"... you'll have to see what I mean, but there are some cute and fun moments. The animation is so-so, the voices are decent, except some moments seemed a little stereotypical and cliché. But as a family kid movie, I would say that this is a go, just don't expect anything like Shrek.

6/10