All manic energy with precious little genuine humor or content.
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
Derivative, puerile, embarrassing to watch, boring, badly written, filled with leaden dialogue and visually off-putting.
The same imagination that went into the design of this carnival landscape has not gone into the structure or logic of the story.
Those looking for a full-on freakfest ... will have a bone to pick after this monkey business.
The showy visuals rest on nothing firmer than a marshmallow bed of chaos and confusion.
An ugly mishmash of stop-motion animation, bad Halloween costumes and worse acting.
Selick appears to be copping Burton's 'vibe' ... and rather unsuccessfully at that.
Boasts kooky insight into the thought processes, or lack thereof, behind such arrested fantasies.
The movie labors hard, the special effects are admirable, no expense has been spared, and yet the movie never takes off.
Things plod along sloppily and gratingly for the majority of the film.
For all its antic grasping it lies flatter on the screen than its graphic novel source lies on the page.
Although the images devilishly delight the audience, the script is as dead as the afterlife, called Downtown, in which most of the movie takes place.
Only serious pot smokers stand a reasonable chance of being entertained.
Not even Fraser's dorky adorableness can salvage this mess of a movie.
Simply put, Monkeybone is to comedy what Battlefield Earth was to science fiction.
Lacks as much in the way of creative inspiration as it does in taste.
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

