Funky Monkey

In all my years of critiqeing other people's works I have never come across a film without fault, but Funky Monkey has changed my perspective on the media of film forever. -Martin Scorcassie

When I sat down to watch "Funky Monkey" with the family, I must admit that I didn't have any particular expectations to the movie, given the synopsis. But it turned out that "Funky Monkey" was actually a rather funny and entertaining movie for being a family movie and all.

The story is about a top secret program to develop super soldiers from monkeys. Yeah, I know. But when the main chimpanzee escapes captivity with help from his trainer, things change dramatically as both trainer and chimpanzee have to find places in life outside the research facility.

There is an abundance of hilarious scenes throughout the movie, which had the entire family laughing loudly many times. So the enjoyment factor of "Funky Monkey" is rather big if you sit down as as family to watch the movie.

Now, the chimpanzee did perform quite well in its scenes, but there were some fighting scenes where it was just gut-awful obvious that it was a man in a chimpanzee costume trying to pass for a monkey.

There are a couple of familiar faces on the cast list, which includes Matthew Modine, Taylor Negron, Gilbert Gottfried, Fred Ward and Jeffrey Tambor. The hired cast were performing well with their given roles and characters, taking the storyline into consideration.

All in all, then "Funky Monkey" is an enjoyable movie for the entire family.

I am a student of film, and have been for several years. And the concept of a cyber, kung-fu, satirical chimpanzee had me wondering, "Is this the film that's going to break the mold?" Let's face it, America has never been let down by any piece of cinema that features a simian costar. After such great classics as "Monkey Trouble" and "Dunston Checks In", I thought that the best ideas were already taken. But then comes "Funky Monkey". I laughed, I cried, I contemplated suicide.

Now I've read about demon possession in the Bible, but that still doesn't explain why someone would create such a product of evil. First off, having at least a shred of intelligence, I realized that a chimpanzee was in fact an ape, not a monkey at all. However, I was sure that the filmmakers would clear this problem up further into the film. They didn't. Let me sum up this work of art: A company by the name of Z.I.T. has decided to train chimpanzees as soldiers. Why? I think they mention something about the soldiers working for bananas, but when it would cost about an estimated 13 million dollars of government money to train one chimp, this doesn't seem cost-effective. Well anyways, Z.I.T. brings in a CIA specialist (Matthew Modine) to train Clemens (The Chimp). Clemens is everything Z.I.T. hoped for. He can take out an entire shift of guards, who all appear to have gotten their training skills at the local mall, and yet still manage to remind us that we're watching a kid's movie. As you may have guessed, Modine finds out that Z.I.T.'s intentions may be evil (Gasp!) and decides to break Clemens out. Being a CIA agent and all, Modine knows that best way to make himself disappear is to go to a large city, rent a guest room, regularly make appearances on television while fighting crime, and using checks to pay for everything.

Z.I.T. finds out where Modine is staying, and sends two of their finest to retrieve him. These guards are possibly the greatest comedy team up since Martin and Lewis, or was it Turner and Hooch? It doesn't matter anyways, because in the end, for a heck of a twist ending, the good guys win!!! Yay! Hooray for predictability! Throw in a nerdy kid who learns to be himself, a lonely mom who needs a date, and music montages that feature songs that would even be blackballed by Radio Disney and you get "Funky Monkey". The climax to the movie? A football game! Played by thugs, bumblers, a chimp, and the nerd boy. No one seems to care about such substitutions at a high school football game.

Funky Monkey never lets up! It's edge of your seat entertainment. Some might even call this the "American Beauty" of monkey-filled features. After finishing this epic, I recalled hearing a story about a railroad worker who lost much of his brain functions when a metal rod pierced his temporal lobe. Funky Monkey is a metal rod among movies.

Funky Monkey is bae. Never in my life have i seen such a beautiful monke. I want to marry funky monke

After reading the other reviews, most of which contain some serious sarcasm, let me give you my honest opinion of the film, Funky Monkey.

The film is not to entertain adults. The acting is beyond cheesy, the lines try to be funny but fail horrible. The monkey doesn't do much, there's isn't a heartwarming story like MVP. When the chimp does do some fighting scenes its very obvious that there is a stunt man. Everything about the movie is very unrealistic and childish. It's a good movie to entertain young kids, who don't realize quality difference in movies yet. To summaries, Funky Monkey is a cheap film about a fighting monkey, his fighting companion and of course a boy.