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20 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :- Deserved to do better, 25 October 2001 Author: Spleen from Canberra, Australia
Henry Selick's first feature, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", was a modern classic. His next, "James and the Giant Peach", had most of the things that made "Nightmare" great - heavily diluted. One thing that weakened Selick's second movie was his decision to begin and end with live action footage, when the glory of both "Nightmare" and "Peach" lay in skilful, sharp, gorgeous stop-motion animation.In "Monkeybone" Selick has watered the original batch of Nightmare juice still more (note to Selick: it's time to stop mining this lode - if you make a fourth feature, get a new look), with at least half of the footage lacking the visual trademarks that were probably the reason for making the film in the first place. There WAS some stop-motion footage thrown in, probably it's for old time's sake.Still, this is a better, more memorable movie than Selick's last one, and certainly not nearly as bad as the miserable box-office returns and scathing reviews would lead you to believe. Yes, the film has its flaws, but if you were to judge from its reception you'd think it didn't have ANY virtues - which simply isn't true. There's Brendan Fraser, for a start. How can you not like Stu Miley, or the way Fraser plays him? (If you want to see Fraser's charm wasted, see "Bedazzled".) At one point Stu is forced to temporarily occupy another body (Chris Kattan), and we instantly transfer our affections to the new actor without giving the matter a second thought - which is more remarkable than it sounds, and shows that Fraser really had been WORKING to get us to like Stu.Then there's Downtown, which you must admit, looks good. It's more of a visual hodgepodge than Selick's previous two worlds (the first of which owes its look largely to Tim Burton), partly because it was realised through an ill-chosen mixture of costume, CGI, stop-motion and set design ... our eyes must constantly adjust, yet the overall look is strong enough to make it worth the effort.As for the film's flaws, well, they've been greatly exaggerated. I suppose there were (as several American critics complained) some bodily-function-based jokes, but I can't recall that many - certainly not as many or as witless as in "Shrek", and besides, at least some of the jokes in "Monkeybone" are actually funny. That's because they're character-based, and not solely reliant on the alleged shock value of someone suddenly farting or burping.All that's really wrong with "Monkeybone" is that it lacks the brilliance a premise this bizarre demands. Yeah, well, big deal. So unlike Selick's first feature it's not a masterpiece. It's still an entertaining, competently made film with a good, solid story, more than inventive enough to justify having been made.
10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- Very surreal at times...and not nearly as bad as the critics said, 8 July 2001 Author: Rich Meyer (muzik@ptd.net) from Saint Clair, Pennsylvania
Let's face it...Monkeybone is definitely not the greatest movie ever made, but it has it's points. Stu's visit to "Downtown" while in his coma has some truly startling special effects and puppetry...there are many images and icons from popular culture that are transposed here with great comedic and nightmarish effect. The sequence in which Stu goes into the surrealist painting he himself made has an unsettling quality to it that I usually only feel with Dali or Bunuel.Brendan Fraser is very adequate in this movie, and Chris Kattan's appearance was quite welcome, but Bridget Fonda's prodigious acting talents are wasted here.
17 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :- A dark, but very funny film, from the director of "Nightmare Before Christmas.", 23 February 2001 Author: Doug Phillips (janabro@aol.com) from Seattle, Washington
Starting and ending with cartoons about the titular character 'Monkey Bone' this is a hilarious and visually stunning film.It is NOT a film for children – so don't let the television adverts fool you into thinking that it is a delightful animated romp in the park for kids. The first cartoon sequence explains – in graphic detail – how the character of 'Monkey Bone' got his name; and it is not something that can be repeated in this forum.Unfortunately, when I went to the matinée the audience was primarily children.When Stu Miley (S Miley – get it?) is tricked into staying in the 'Downunder' (the place where people in a coma go to) to provide nightmares for the denizens of 'Downunder' the film becomes much too frightening for children; but more visually elaborate and stimulating for adults.The sound track starts out strong and only gets better.Brendan Fraser is wonderful as Stu the comic book author who has a very dark side to him. Bridget Fonda is underutilized as Dr Julie McElroy the sweet and good-natured girlfriend of Stu. Megan Mullally as Kimmy, Stu's sister who wants to pull the plug on Stu (though it is never real clear why) essentially reprises her role as 'Karen' from the television show 'Will and Grace' – but she is always a delight to watch.Rose McGowan ('Scream') is a visual treat as Kitty – the lone citizen of 'Downunder' that is willing to assist Stu in returning to the real world. Whoopi Goldberg is fabulous as Death – just the right amount of sly wickedness that you would expect of an embodied death.But Chris Kattan does a real star turn as the Organ Doner – his physical comedy and outrageous antics as a recently deceased gymnast are truly riotous and quite different from the characters he has played in past films or currently plays on Saturday Night Live – it is worth seeing this film just for his performance.The plot is actually fairly complicated and the graphics and visual style are brilliant and mind-blowing; but again, this is not a film for children. However, most adults that can see the possibility of the humour that might actually lie in death will certainly get a kick out of it.
12 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :- A Beautiful Nightmare, 14 October 2001 Author: EmperorNortonII from San Francisco, California
"Monkeybone" is one of the most visually stimulating movies I've seen in quite a while! Its run in theaters was too brief, which doesn't do a movie like this justice. The imagery was surreal and disturbing, in a nice sort of way. It was interesting to see the strange denizens of Downtown, the mythological characters, the dead celebrities and so many others. The animated Monkeybone keeps the action and the comedy at a fever pitch. It all may have been too much for the average moviegoer. But I say this weird kaleidoscope is worth a look. You won't believe your eyes!
8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :- Cool World with soul, 16 July 2001 Author: Dan Franzen (dfranzen70) from United States
An endearing young nebbish named Stu (Brendan Fraser) is a cartoonist whose main creation is the personification (or, if you will, the simianization) of his libido. The ornery Monkeybone represents all of Stu's repressed feelings, you see. This is not uncommon among cartoonists or comic-book artists (or, for that matter, any artist); the product on the page is often the result of the demons within the artist's tortured soul. Anyway, Stu has a lovely girlfriend named Julie (Bridget Fonda), who just happens to be a doctor. Monkeybone's about to hit big, and Stu's friend/agent (David Foley) is trying his damnedest to merchandise the hell out of the uncontrollable penis with legs. (There's a not-so-subtle symbolism at work here, of course; Stu represses his emotions, including all sexual feelings, and releases them only in the form of Monkeybone on the page.) The day that deals for the commercialization of Monkeybone (reluctantly by Stu, of course) are made, tragedy strikes. A freak car accident leaves Stu in a coma, although somehow his girlfriend escapes unharmed. So there he is, lying in a hospital bed. Trust me, folks, there's comedy afoot here. We're only now getting to it. While clinically dead, Stu finds himself in Hell. Everyone down there knows him, because he's suffered through nightmares for many, many years (and they've served to inspire him in his artistry, too). In 1991, there was a movie called Cool World that covered some of the same ground. In that film, cartoonist Gabriel Byrne ran into all of his old creations - in this one, Stu finds that the denizens down there have been audience to his nightmares since they began, and they've been counting on him to churn out more. Keeps 'em alive, apparently. Oh, but just to complicate things, Julie the doc has found out what causes nightmares. Actually, I guess that actually makes things nice and simple, not more complex. What's worse, down in Hell (actually, an offshoot of Hell called "Downtown"), Monkeybone is quite the center of attention, and even has a standup act that humiliates the reserved and introverted Stu. The movie really consists of two main parts: Stu down in Hell (although not quite dead yet in real life), trying to find a way back up; and Stu back on terra firma, trying to Save The Day. What connects the two parts is that the nefarious Monkeybone, who's ostensibly been helping Stu to get an "exit pass" has actually schemed to return to the land of the living himself - in Stu's body. So that's where the hijinks really begin; at least, that was the plan. Once Monkeybone gets back up there, things seem to fall into a familiar plotline, which is a shame. There are many scenes down in the underworld that are positively funny, including Whoopi Goldberg as the Lord of the Dead. Oh, and some good bits with Grim Reaper recruits. And the sets! VERY good, fascinating stuff. If you're a fan of scenes, how things look - set design, set decoration, the whole bit - then this movie has oodles of eye candy. It's very well designed. And here's a bit of praise for someone I thought I'd never give it to: Chris Kattan. See, after Monkeybone returns to Earth in Stu's body, Stu has to find a way back up there himself. He's sent back in the body of a gymnast who was just killed in a car wreck (broken neck). The scenes of Stu waking up on the dissection table then being pursued by a mob of angry pathology doctors anxious to get his organs (which, of course, were supposed to be donated) are priceless, as is the bit of how Stu quickly copes with his broken-neck problem. There's a lot to look at here, and although the characters themselves are rather cardboard (and Fraser himself, while amiable, might be a little miscast), I think this was an overlooked movie. It has everything Cool World had back in 1991, except it also has (pardon the pun) a soul. This one made you like Stu and root for him, which is (of course) essential to any silly comedy. This one's just a silly comedy with some bite to it.
3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :- Original,fascinating ,daring comedy., 14 April 2002 Author: davidwitkovic (davidwitkovic@msn.com) from Connecticut, USA
I have recently viewed Monkeybone on VHS and DVD. I was happy to see Hollywood take artistic chances in a big budget film. Henry Selick is to be congratulated on getting most of his vision on screen. The DVD showed what it could have been if fully realised. The cast was excellent with two bravura performances by Brendan Fraser and Chris Kattan.They cemented the film into a wonderfully dark comic piece.This is a difficult balance to develop and maintain. The TOWNTOWN sets were very suggestive and multilayered as our subconscience is as well.More would have been even better. This reminded me of the Salvador Dali sets created for Alfred Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND. There,too, the producer,David O.Selznick, got cold feet in not using all the sets which would have made the film a landmark piece.Again,afraid what audiences will accept.Please continue in breaking new ground. Thank you.
4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :- Bizarre, if slightly flawed, fun, 23 March 2001 Author: zmaturin from Pleasant Valley
I don't know how, but somehow Henry Selick got his hands on millions of dollars to make a movie that's going to appeal to only a small handful of odd movie goers. Monkeybone is a visually delightful, darkly humorous, and totally refreshing fantasy flick full of great special effects, likable characters, and a style that mixes everything from "Brazil" and "Cool World" to "Hellraiser" and "Eraserhead". It reminded me of "Dark City", "Freaked", "Forbidden Zone" and the work of Sid and Marty Krofft, but at the same time completely fresh and original."Monkeybone" does suffer from some flaws, but they seem like the manipulations of some behind-the-scenes tinkering to make the movie more "normal". The most visible scars occur when our hero Stu Miley (Brendan Fraser, who is quickly becoming a great comedic actor) first arrives in Monkeybone's nightmare land. These early scenes in the fantasy world seem rushed and poorly plotted. I hope there's a special edition DVD or something to see more stuff. But the stuff that was left in is great. I couldn't believe what I was seeing sometimes- Stu's black and white surgery nightmare was one of the creepiest things I've seen on the big screen, and Bob Odenkirk appears as a organ-hungry doctor in scenes that seem to be taken right out of his HBO series "Mr. Show". Chris Kattan is outstanding, providing some hilarious, "Re-Animator"-style hi-jinx as "Organ Doner Stu", Dave Foley is also funny as Stu's manager, and Whoopie Goldberg is really good as Death, whose head explodes when she gets mad.But the real stars here are the fantasy characters who inhabit the nightmare town. Like in "The Nightmare Before Christmas", the background characters are just as cool-looking and diverse as the leads. It's a shame that more time isn't spent dwelling in this world or in Death's land, and that most of the movie takes place in the "real" world.Anyway, see this movie while you can- it'll probably be out of theaters by the time I finish writing thi- too late.
7 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- Could this movie get any stranger?, 28 July 2001 Author: La Gremlin from Boston, MA
Well, sadly, yes.I had really high hopes for this one. I liked it, don't get me wrong. I just wish they'd pushed a lot farther with it. I was expecting something truly trippy and messed up with frightening and bizarre images. What I got was more like a frat party attended by the minor characters in "the Never-ending Story".Come to think of it, that's one heck of an idea for a movie. I thought of it first, so hands off!If you've already seen "Nightmare Before Christmas" and the highly underrated "James and the Giant Peach", you won't miss anything much by skipping "Monkeybone". If you haven't seen either of those two movies yet, well, check them out ASAP!
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :- Pretty good, I thought, 15 March 2005 Author: wefweofla from United States
I thought it was funny and cute, and I definitely preferred BF as Monkeybone to BF as Stu Miley. Did anybody else get turned on when M/bone was doing his number with the bed frame? Is it me? Let's face it, Shakespeare it's not, but the acting was good, BF, Bridget Fonda and Megan Mullally were all excellent, the premise was interesting - I'm going to get the DVD, as the version I saw, Bravo, I think, was very chopped about. There should have been more raunchy stuff, since that was the entire idea behind the movie, I guess they chickened out. Did I mention the bit with BF on the bed frame - why did Bridget Fonda roll out of the way when he jumped - what a missed opportunity? I'm going to look for the DVD tomorrow.
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :- I was interested, then I wasn't, 25 December 2003 Author: powerlaces from cleveland, ohio
I happened to enjoy this movie for the beginning 45 minutes or so. The animation, the ghoulish underworld, the dark comedy feel were all appealing to me. But after the initial 45min the movie was gradually transformed into some sort of SNL endorsed slapstick romp. Chris Kattan added nothing to the movie, he just subtracted. Not to say it was too bad to watch it all the way through, but simply put, it was a poorly written script and a bad interpretation by the director/producer.
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