Monkeybone (2001)

Admirable film.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Disastrous test screenings led Fox to recut the hell out of this thing and a regime change over at Fox that inherited this mess unceremoniously dumped it after numerous delays. Originally set up with Ben Stiller in the lead and Selick years later recognizing that would have been better, Fraser is just here to do his idiot shtick that made him money in films like George of the Jungle. The film sits very uncomfortably with anything that is live action and not involving a major effect. There is no attention to plot, drama, pacing or tone. We do get some breathtaking visuals, which is where Selick is clearly most comfortable with. A screwball final act with a corpse running around and a group of surgeons running after his organs is just an embarrassment of bad writing and Selick not in any sort of control of this film. In fact most of this film is bonkers and while some scenes become so unhinged and occasionally inspired, most of the film works against itself. It's a shapeless mess of a film that isn't for kids and too stupid for everyone else. Lots of effort went into the art direction and costume design and makeup and the money spent is up there on the screen, but there was an actual movie that needed to be filmed and the filmmakers seemed resentful having to film humans.

Even if you watch this flick in hope of a creative visual style alone, it's one ugly film. The color scheme of both reality and fantasy worlds in the film is full of bright, obnoxious, oversaturated colors. (The film even teases viewers with a minute or two of merciful black-and- white scenes.) You could count the legitimately creative character/background designs on one hand; most of the "surreal" scenes in the movie revolve around shuffling actors in lame, embarrassing costumes. This complements the complete lack of subtlety in the film's concepts and humor in general; the film relies heavily on its "jokes" but none of them provoked even the tiniest smirk in my audience. Apparently the filmmakers decided they needed to hit their viewers over the head with even the most elementary-school-level butt jokes.The stop-motion animation is competent, but the direction of the human actors is constantly stilted and flat. I guess it's intended to be "cartoonish" but instead it comes across as amateurish and pandering, as if Selick and co. assumed audiences wouldn't recognize comedy unless everyone in the movie acted like spastic, one-dimensional clowns. There is no attempt to make any character relatable or likable; even the "mild-mannered nice guy" protagonist is a wormy, self-pitying loser from the get-go.Lastly, the film is painfully sexist as well, with constant portrayal of woman as sex objects in a pathetic effort to add some adult appeal. Again, the film can't attract viewers with anything clever, original or meaningful but instead uses the most pandering and insulting methods possible. Only watch this mess if you're terribly easily-amused or possibly if you haven't aged 15 yet.

Henry Selick is one of the most underrated filmmakers at work in Hollywood today. He hasn't many features under his belt, but that's because of the effort he invests in his projects. His films take years to complete. Selick's trademark as a director is his love of stop-motion animation, where hand-crafted figures are manipulated an inch at a time. Its a lengthy, time-consuming process that requires a great deal of patience, but in all the films he's made, his perseverance has paid off, and he's turned out some truly stunning work.Although The Nightmare Before Christmas is credited as a Tim Burton film, it was directed by Selick. Together they created a breathtaking world, unlike any I've ever seen before or since. Selick then moved on to the adaptation of James and the Giant Peach, another excellent film. Both were box-office flops sadly, and Selick continues to struggle to find funding for his films as a result. And now we have Monkeybone, a film that attempts to merge stop-motion with live-action.Of Selick's films so far, Monkeybone feels the least satisfying. Maybe because it doesn't quite have the intelligence he brought to his previous work. This is pitched at a much more juvenile level. Brendan Fraser plays Stu Miley, a cartoonist who is the creator of Monkeybone, a wacky wisecracking chimp. After Stu gets in a car crash, he slips into a coma.And winds up in a bizarre buffer-zone between the land of the living and the dead. Populated by strange creatures of all kinds, even Stu's creation Monkeybone is here as a nightclub act. If Stu ever wants to wake up, he has to get an exit pass from Death (Whoopi Goldberg) to return to the waking world. Monkeybone helps him get one, but double-crosses him at the last moment, uses the pass to escape, wakes up in full control of Stu's body, where he wreaks havoc.There's quite a clever idea at the heart of Monkeybone. A figment of your imagination made flesh that tries to take over your life. But although Henry Selick can work marvels when it comes to the animated world, he seems less sure of himself when it comes to live action. When Selick directed James and the Giant Peach, the stop-motion scenes were wonderful, and carried by considerable charm and energy. But he bookended the film with live-action, and its clearly a medium he's not as comfortable in. Because Monkeybone relies on a lot of live-action, the film suffers as a result.A lot of the live-action scenes tend to degenerate into slapstick farce. An approach that would work fine in animation, but less so in live-action. Brendan Fraser is well suited to this type of material, and he plays the part of Monkeybone with a lot of enthusiasm, but I am starting to get a bit fed up of this kind of shtick that Fraser stars in, because its beginning to seem like the only kind of thing he can do.The most interesting aspects of Monkeybone are inside Stu's mind, where his consciousness is trapped in Downtown, a sort of waystation for lost souls. This is the part of the film that really comes alive, because Downtown's an extraordinary, eye-popping piece of set-design.Its filled with so many details I'm not sure where to begin in describing it. Its like a lunatic carnival if lorded over by Tim Burton. And the way Selick merges stop-motion animated creatures with live actors is quite remarkable. There are too many bizarre creatures to keep track of. Cyclops'. Yellow bulls. Giant sized wasps. But its just as astonishing as HalloweenTown, and even occasionally surpasses that inspired creation through sheer invention.The human cast is OK. Rose McGowan lends fine support as a catgirl who lives in Downtown. The sight of her in a catsuit is worth the price of admission alone! And Whoopi Goldberg makes a nicely exasperated Death.But Monkeybone is less than the sum of its parts. Its a film that doesn't go far enough. And substitutes crude toilet humour when the invention runs out. A failing that works against the film is the character of Monkeybone himself. He's not really an interesting character. He's just some obnoxious chimp who looks like he's wandered in from another film.Sadly, Monkeybone was another flop for Selick. Granted I was a little disappointed with it, especially when compared to Selick's previous work. Even if it has moments of real inspired lunacy, its just not up to the high standards of Henry Selick, and only seems to add a further nail into the coffin of his flagging career. And he's a man who really deserves much better.

Stu Miley is an aspiring cartoonist who's creation "Monkeybone" has just been picked up by Comedy Central for 6 episodes. He isn't ready for the commercialisation of his character though and slips away from the screening of his pilot with his girlfriend. Ironically, a car load of merchandise sees him have a car accident that lands him into a coma. While his girlfriend sits by his bedside worrying, Stu is thrown into a nightmare world where only his own creation seems interested in helping get the exit pass necessary to escape. However when push comes to shove, it is Monkeybone that escapes back into the real world to put his evil plot into action.For the first thirty minutes or so of this film I was wondering why it didn't have better ratings on this site because I actually found it very enjoyable. The reason for this was the sheer imagination and weird creativity of the cartoon world was keeping me engaging. However once Monkeybone's betrayal has happened the action moves more and more into the real world. While doing this it does try to retain the same wacky sense of imagination but somehow, out of context, it doesn't work that well and instead of being funny it is rather silly. It doesn't help that at this point the film also starts to work on a plot of sorts and that again takes away more than it adds.The cast are very mixed despite being so starry. Fraser is best in his Stu role but struggles with his Monkeybone personae; he tries hard and gives it his all but again it is all a bit silly. Fonda has a thankless supporting role that sees her having to carry the plot. Turturro was a good choice of voice for Monkeybone but not enough is made of his character. The rest of the cast features mostly amusing turns from Kattan, Goldberg, Foley, Esposito and others, mostly benefiting from the minor comic turns they are asked to perform outside of the main plot.Overall then a very inconsistent film. In the coma it is imaginative and fascinating to watch but, outside of these scenes it relies on comedy and plot to get by and sadly has neither in sufficient quantity to make for a complete film.