Review of Monkeybone

Introduction

Ten out of ten for original film titles but what is Monkeybone? Well oddly enough he`s a monkey, not quite sure where the bone part comes into it but suffice to say he`s a mischievous little cartoon monkey created by Stu Miley (Brendan Fraser).

After a near fatal car crash Stu slips into a coma and, surprise surprise, Monkeybone takes over his body. It`s not bad enough that Stu has to somehow reclaim his body and return to the one he loves but he`s also facing a race against time with his sister wanting to pull the plug on his life support machine sooner rather than later.

This sounded rather amusing and I`ve liked allot of Brendan Fraser`s previous movies so thought I`d be in for a few laughs.

Video

The video quality is up to the high standards we have pretty much come to expect of modern day movie releases. The colours are very clearly defined throughout and detail remains high even during the darker scenes.

Audio

The audio comes in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS flavours, I opted for the latter. The DTS soundtrack is extremely clear and lively however whilst the front channels are used to good effect I felt that the rears we largely ignored. This is a shame as there are a number of scenes which could have benefited from a more involving audio presentation.

Features

There`s a good selection of extras on offer here. There`s an audio commentary from the director, 11 extended scenes, a behind the scenes feature, some TV spots and various stills. Most of the extended scenes also have a commentary from the director explaining why they were cut and offering some more insight into the movie itself.

So I have no problem with the quantity of extras however I have find myself wondering whether anyone will actually bother with any of them. Why you ask? Put simply this film is dreadful.

Conclusion

Yup a mildly amusing story idea with a talented lead turns out to be the biggest waste of 90 minutes I`ve so far experienced this year. I don`t know what was going on inside the writer`s head when this was penned but it was obviously fuelled by some sort of illegal substance, probably several.

The whole experience is just damn weird with many of the oddest moments taking place in the waystation for lost souls. It`s hard to describe exactly but think of some of the weirdest scenes from Beetlejuice and multiply them by a factor of ten, then multiply them by ten again. It`s the kind of weirdness that makes you start to wonder if you are actually missing some hidden meaning. Well having watched it with a few other people I can safely say either we are all missing the point totally or that the film simply has none.

Aside from the overall weirdness there is nothing to recommend about this movie. Monkeybone is irritating and the script is devoid of any amusing situations which you think might have arisen. Quite how the New York Times can say it is "Funny, smart and original" is beyond me although it`s quite possibly original but in the worst possible way.

A good DVD package of a terrible film, one to most definitely avoid.