Post by StevePulaski on Nov 11, 2011 11:13:08 GMT -5
Kevin James and a gorilla voiced by Nick Nolte in Zookeeper.
Rating: ★★
People need to realize that just because a film is targeted for the children of family demographic doesn't mean it should be childish and doesn't mean it is okay for it to be bad. Zookeeper start off promising, has an interesting premise, but ultimately, takes the easy way out and gets bogged down with immaturity.
The story is about Griffin (James), a lovable oaf who gets turned down after proposing to his girlfriend on the beach. Kind of a sad way to open a kid's film, but honestly, it's probably one of the better scenes of the film. For one, it's one of the few times we actually feel sympathy for the character. The girl is Stephanie (Bibb) who hates the fact that Griffin works as a zookeeper and doesn't earn a steady, promising living.
But as a zookeeper, Griffin is happy. He talks to the animals when he feeds them, gets along with fellow employees, and is content with the cards he has been dealt. Everything seems good for now, until he begins redevelop feelings for Stephanie. That's where the animals come in. The animals are voiced by Sylvester Stallone as a lion, Cher as a lioness, Nick Nolte as a gorilla, Adam Sandler as a monkey, Maya Rudolph as a giraffe, and Judd Apatow as an elephant. The animals begin to talk around Griffin, he freaks out, comes back the next day, and realizes that the animals are trying to help him in his dating life.
The only tolerable animal is Bernie the gorilla who is voiced perfectly by Nick Nolte. Bernie and Griffin form the tightest bond of all because the film has them go out to T.G.I.F. Fridays at one point and treats their relationship as a buddy comedy would. The relationship is cute, inspired, but ultimately awkward.
One of the main problems is the approach taken. The filmmakers should've known that talking animals are enough to sustain a film. A good film, I'm not sure, but the idea of animals communicating is enough to inspire a full length feature. If that is the case, why did we need to see so many shots of Kevin James falling down? If the film had left the show to the animals, instead of so many relentless and redundant jokes about hitting the ground harder and harder I think a good film could've been made.
The idea of animals coaching an ambitious man is actually a good premise when you think about it. It's just all in wit, delivery, and timing. Rosario Dawson is energetic as her role as the zoo veterinarian named Kate, but extremely underused.
I'd too like to point out that when the animals talk, their mouth animation is woefully unconvincing. The technical aspect is fair, but some scenes it doesn't even look properly synced. I can't really be too critical here because I can imagine that animating many animals' mouths is not an easy task to be done. I'm also not trying to find flaws, just many jumped out to me when watching.
When reviewing a family film one needs to ask two questions; "will the kids enjoy it?" and "will the parents enjoy it." The answers are "probably" and "no." Zookeeper entertains its demographic, but is nonetheless odd and unfunny for most of its run. But if you choose to watch it, keep in mind that this entire film took five people to write. And frankly, it seems like they just passed the pen around after every line.
Starring: Kevin James, Leslie Bibb, and Rosario Dawson. Voices of: Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Maya Rudolph, and Judd Apatow. Directed by: Frank Coraci.