The
CGI kids' film Space Chimps hits theaters days after the videogame hits every major
platform, but that isn't as revealing as it once was; a lot of modern
franchises go the same route. Still, with Space Chimps, it's hard to avoid noticing how
much the actual movie feels like a middling-okay videogame, raising the
question "Which is the actual product, and which is the peripheral spin-off?"
Nothing about Space Chimps suggests a strong cinematic or artistic drive; it's fairly
videogame-y itself, with characters bouncing around visually repetitive
environments, having goal-focused encounters, and fighting a literal boss
monster. The latest from Vanguard Animation looks a little better than the
studio's previous films (the wretched Valiant and the shrug-worthy Happily
N'Ever After) but
story remains Vanguard's weak point.
Andy
Samberg voices Ham, a glib circus chimp who winds up in space through an
eye-rolling contrivance: When a V'Ger-like space cloud dumps a NASA rover on "the
far end of the universe," the space agency sends in a pair of proud, heavily
trained chimpanzee astronauts, but a snotty senator (Stanley Tucci) decries
them as "chimp nerds" and forces Ham, grandson of a famous space-chimp, along
on the mission as a PR stunt. The other chimps, Luna (Cheryl Hines) and Titan
(Patrick Warburton, in one of his signature big-dumb-stiff roles), are so
disgusted that they all spend 15 minutes lamely zinging each other. But Luna
and Titan learn to appreciate Ham after they all crash-land on a planet where a
poorly animated alien named Zartog (Jeff Daniels) has used the first NASA rover
to become a malevolent dictator over his society. Then an obnoxious pink blob
with a tit for a head and the squealing voice of Kristin Chenoweth arrives to
take over the story.
It's
always a little unsettling when a children's film claims that training and
dedication to a cause are dorky, dumb, and no match for a smart mouth and good
genes. But Space Chimps isn't offensive so much as negligible. There's some creativity in the
alien ecosphere and the occasionally entertaining banter, but the patronizing
script, cheap human stereotypes, console-level animation, and overly similar
chase scenes all make for a punishing experience. Like a poorly designed videogame,
it's as much a test of endurance of repetition as anything else.