Reel Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Reels
MPAA Rating: G
Released in Theaters: July 18, 2008
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Runtime: 81 minutes
Directed by: Kirk De Micco
Cast: Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Kenan Thompson, Stanley Tucci
Sex/Nudity: Ham has a major crush on Luna and flirts with her.
Violence/Gore: The evil leader of the far-away planet freezes residents into statues and enslaves/terrorizes his fellow aliens.
Profanity: None, although there are a few made-up alien words that substitute for profanity.
Which Kids Will Like It? Kids aged 4 to 7 who like stories about colorful cartoon characters.
Will Parents Like It? Yes, it’s a cute, innocent movie with some good lessons about helping each other and taking responsibility.
Review: When an expensive space rover disappears into a wormhole, the nation’s space program is put in jeopardy, and an opportunistic senator (Stanley Tucci) has to come up with a plan. Too dangerous a mission for human astronauts, Mission Control devises a plan to send chimps into space to retrieve the vehicle.
The lucky chimps include Ham III (voiced by Andy Samberg), whose grandfather was the first chimp in space; Luna (Cheryl Hines), a smart chimp whom Ham has a crush on; and Titan (Patrick Warburton), a large chimp whose mind tends to wander.
But Ham doesn’t really take the mission seriously. He’s a fun-loving, party-chimp who feels no responsibility to help the nation or carry on the dedication of his astronaut grandfather. Still, he’s lured by the cool jet packs and opportunity to spend time with Luna.
Things get dicey when the chimps arrive on a planet with its own share of problems. A tyrant named Zartog (Jeff Daniels) is causing havoc on the planet, terrorizing his fellow aliens and dipping them at random into a substance that causes them to freeze into statues. It’s up to Ham and his co-astronaut chimps to save the day and then figure out how to get home again.
Luckily, they’ve got some chimps back on Earth to help, including Houston (Carlos Alazraqui), an older chimp who raised Ham, and Comet (Zack Shada), a tech-savvy young chimp who has a way with gadgets.
Once you get past the one-dimensional animation, this cute kids’ flick has some funny jokes (riffing off of The Right Stuff, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Apollo 13) and a good message about taking responsibility for the good of others.
There’s also an adorable little creature on the far-away planet named Kilowatt (Kristin Chenoweth), who bursts into operatic song when scared and will do anything to help the chimps on their mission.
In short, this is a bright, colorful, funny movie for kids in the 4 to 7 age range.
Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at Reel Life With Jane; follow her on Twitter; become a friend on Facebook; email jboursaw@charter.net.
