The design is often brilliant, although the film is nowhere near as tasteless or funny as it ought to be.
Monkeybone (2001)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:111
Fresh:21
Rotten:90
Average Rating:3.8/10
Consensus: Though original and full of bizarre visuals, Monkeybone is too shapeless a movie, with unengaging characters and random situations that fail to build up laughs.
Runtime: 88 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: MONKEYBONE, directed by Henry Selick (JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS), is a fantasy adventure that combines live action, stop motion, claymation miniatures, puppets, and... MONKEYBONE, directed by Henry Selick (JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS), is a fantasy adventure that combines live action, stop motion, claymation miniatures, puppets, and computer imaging. Monkeybone is a cartoon character created by a successful comic book illustrator named Stu Miley (Brendan Fraser). (He wears a coat with the tag S. Miley, which is a good hint at the film's brand of pun-filled humor.) On the night that Stu is going to propose marriage to his girlfriend, Julie (Bridget Fonda), a freak accident throws him into a coma. Though he appears unconscious, lying in a hospital bed, he is actually having the strangest experience of his lifetime inside his own head. Trapped in a bizarre amusement park called Downtown, the land where nightmares are stored, Stu comes face to face with a living version of the small, mischievous Monkeybone (a stop-action paraffin sculpture voiced by John Turturro). The other inhabitants of Downtown are either part-humans like the seductive cat woman, Kitty (Rose McGowan) and the mysterious face of Death (Whoopi Goldberg), or beasts--Cyclops, Minotaurs, and Centaurs. While dodging obstacles from his own nightmares, Stu strives to break out of his coma and return to his true love. Little does he know, Monkeybone has plans of his own. [More]
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, Chris Kattan, Dave Foley
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, Chris Kattan, Dave Foley, Whoopi Goldberg, Rose McGowan, Christopher Franciosa, Giancarlo Esposito, Megan Mullally, Mary Pierce, Bob Odenkirk, John Turturro
Director: Henry Selick
Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Sam Hamm
Producer: Mark Radce, Michael Barnathan
Composer: Anne Dudley
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Monkeybone
A welcome antidote to the epidemic of witless, frenetic, secondhand low comedies that gnaw at our brains like antibody-resistant spirochetes.
The filmmaking and creative juices save this otherwise preposterous picture.
Boasts kooky insight into the thought processes, or lack thereof, behind such arrested fantasies.
A giddy madcap classic, one of the wildest and funniest American comedies in years.
Monkeybone is kind of like a Tim Burton movie - except it wasn't directed by Tim Burton.
There's a special place in my heart for movies that create new worlds for us to inhabit.
Despite these isolated moments of comic brilliance, as a whole, Monkeybone never quite comes together as it should.
If you're interested in craziness, loony looking critters and other people's nightmares, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
If you don't pay too much attention to the plot ... you should find Monkeybone pretty darn entertaining.
...an outrageously funny demonstration of how our interior angst can be put into the service of art.
It's pretty funny. It's absurdist funny, not so much situational as just weird and cool and "yikes!" and surreal.
An incredible journey of the imagination, darkly humorous and zesty in spirit.
There's unwieldy mess -- but there's also unruly brilliance to this dark and funny story.
Latest News for Monkeybone
April 12, 2007:
"Mummy 3" Casting Coup! Rachel Weisz Out, "Alex Rider" In
Rachel Weisz has pulled out of "The Mummy 3," reports say; but just as the sequel loses a mother, it looks like it's gaining a son -- and a strapping athletic teen... More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 95% 95% | The Cove |
| 85% 85% | World's Greatest Dad |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Monkeybone at Rotten Tomatoes
- Monkeybone at IGN
- Monkeybone at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

