Fails to provide any real interesting characters that you want to root for.
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.
Theatrical Release:Feb 23, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $4,942,155
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for Monkeybone
Those looking for a full-on freakfest ... will have a bone to pick after this monkey business.
Nothing prepared me for the painful experience of watching 'Monkeybone.'
Selick is so delighted by his own Dali-esque, head-trippy visuals that he fails to get across even the basics of the story.
Things plod along sloppily and gratingly for the majority of the film.
So dreadfully unfunny and unbearably shrill that watching it makes you feel like you’ve been trapped in Hell for eternity.
The antics are tedious and the monkey-sex jokes have been PG-ed into raunchy, unfunny piffles.
A 'live-action' fantasy increasingly trapped in a cluttered corner by cartoonish ideas.
The guy can't control his 'monkey,' get it? Heh-heh. Yep, that's the whole concept. Heh. Pretty twisted, eh? Heh ... har ... um ... zzzzzz.
The design is often brilliant, although the film is nowhere near as tasteless or funny as it ought to be.
Let's all go on with our lives now and try to forget this unpleasantness ever happened, okay?
Perhaps Selick was so intent on getting the crazy stuff right, he neglected to look at the mundane things, like continuity and a good script.
There is genius written all over this flick. Unfortunately, the editing pretty much ruins it.
A Beetlejuice clone with more grotesquerie but far less mirth ... so strenuous you can almost see the sweat roll off the screen.
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...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Monkeybone at Rotten Tomatoes
- Monkeybone at IGN
- Monkeybone at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



