5/5 A mess of a film, yes...But also brilliant...
  by Robert W. Berg (New York, NY United States)
"Monkeybone" is the type of experimental, twisted movie that is destined to become a cult classic. Mixing shades of Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice" with an enormous variety of influences such as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "All of Me," "Alice in Wonderland," and even "Regarding Henry," this movie is a stop-motion cartoon, a live-action love story, a dark comedy, a fantasy, a Freudian nightmare, and more. It contains an extremely diverse and unusual cast, including Brendan Fraser as a cartoonist in a coma, Bridget Fonda as his fiancee, Whoopi Goldberg as Death (yes, you read that right), Chris Kattan as the decomposing corpse of a gymnast, Megan Mullally as the cartoonist's sister who is very eager to pull the plug, Dave Foley as the cartoonist's manager, and Rose McGowan as a kitty cat (yes, once again, you read that right)! It also contains bizzare, strange, and cool animation by director Henry Selick, who also directed Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Ostensibly, "Monkeybone" is the story about an artist's struggle between artistic integrity and cartoonish commercialism, about the difference between a work of art and a mere doodle, a satire about the consequences of "selling out." It is also a Freudian fairy tale about a man whose sexual id is represented by a cartoon monkey. Monkeybone is literally this man's erection. The story is an examination of what happens when one lets one's id take over his whole life. It is a psychological analysis of what nightmares are made of. It is a surrealistic comedy containing some of the most startling, visually stunning images you are likely to see on film for a long time, including strange representations of many classical, mythological creatures. It is a love story. While this might sound like the premise of an independant film, this is actually a big budget film that was marketed to look like a children's movie. Not a good idea.

It's no wonder this movie did so poorly at the box office. Believe it or not, this film is the type that should have been playing at small art houses, not mainstream movie theatres. Even the cover box says it's the crudest movie since "South Park." In short, the studio didn't know how to market its own movie.

This movie is an extremely likable one, hilariously funny at times, always seriously bizarre, and obviously the work of a demented genius. It is hard to deny the brilliant artistry involved, and the all-around great acting by the cast. In fact, I respect every actor in this film immensely, especially the big budget ones such as Whoopi Goldberg and Brendan Fraser. This is the type of weird movie they didn't have to do, but chose to do. It is a project they wanted to be involved in, and I respect them for that.

Typically, most of the reviewers, mostly in the middle of the country, panned this film. However, many major newspapers and publications, such as "The New York Times," and "Entertainment Weekly" gave it great reviews, despite its messy nature.

And this is one of the few movies in recent history in which its mess actually adds to its likability. A more polished version of this film would be not be half as enjoyable, brilliant, crazy, or maddening as this truly original, insane piece of filmmaking. As it is now, the viewer constantly wonders what strange happening will occur next, and, trust me, it is always stranger than you thought it would be.

I would not recommend this film to everyone. I would probably recommend it mostly to serious movie buffs or lovers of very original, non-mainstream film, who enjoy Tim Burton/Sam Raimiesque humor in their cinema. If you're in the most for something completely and utterly different in every way, buy this movie.

5/5 I was dying laughing!
  by
This was a weird movie and very funny. At one point I fell off of the couch laughing and we had to stop the DVD! We were both laughing so hard we couldn't hear what was going on so we had to play it again. We are going to buy this one for sure!

4/5 Appealing to many types of viewers
  by ladylindsay (Orange County, CA)
I have to say I'm surprised and glad to see the praise this movie is getting. I thought I'd have to come in and defend it, but I see you all have some taste ;)

I talked to two people at work about this movie after I saw it. All three of us have different tastes and all three got something different out of it. I am the animation fanatic, and was interested in seeing another film by the director of Nightmare before Christmas. I enjoy Henry Selick's style and vision, and saw it come through quite well at moments in the film. It's funny that the things I did not like so much about the movie were what my co-workers (and some reviewers here) liked best. Bill is an SNL and comedy lover, and watched purely for that aspect. He thought the movie was hilarious but a little too weird. And my film snobby assistant was impressed with the insider jokes and references, half of which I didn't even catch.

This is why I give the film four stars. It is very good. We all liked it. But none of us loved it 100%. Of course, if we had had, one of us would give it five stars and the others would pan it completely. I guess that's the problem with trying to please everyone all the time. At least Monkeybone comes close, and I recommend it equally to animation, cult film, and comedy lovers.

5/5 Monkeybone A Cult Masterpiece
  by John Henson (Irmo, SC United States)
I have found that the people that like this movie are usually the ones with a stroke of creativity in their blood...people that can actually relate to Stu. Being an illustrator myself I found a lot of truth behind this film about a man and his psychological baggage. The characters real and fictional are very well developed and the movie moves along at a pace that really kept me interested and involved. If you liked the movie, the DVD is well worth acquiring for all the special features. My favorite extra's were the extended scenes, explaining a lot of plot development in further detail. The animation is great, the story is great, the characters are great. I don't know what creative person can sit through this movie without wanting to buy their own Monkeybone doll. I researched and found a copy of Kaja Blackley's graphic novel "Dark Town" upon which the movie is based, and found it just as fascinating. Only problem now is dealing with the fact that only #1 out of a 12 volume series was published...and I'm left with only the movie in its completion!

5/5 Brendan Fraser Takes Risks Again
  by carol irvin (United States)
It is amazing to me that every time Brendan Fraser does an edgy, risky movie, like this one, his audience bottoms out. Yet when he does work that I find barely watchable, like the two "Mummy" movies, he is a huge hit. This film drew few viewers, just like his "Still Breathing," "Gods and Monsters," and "Twilight of the Golds." Here Fraser plays cartoonist Stu who via a coma is transported to Down Town. Other people in comas and people who are created by others' imaginations live in Down Town. They all crave nightmares and dreams. It is a hyper surreal place. Stu's creation, Monkeybone, lives there too and Monkeybone plots to take Stu's place in the real world. Monkeybone does emerge in the real world in Stu's body and Fraser does a superb job playing a monkey in the body of a man. In fact, his character is the most fun when Monkeybone takes over. I've never seen before "Saturday Night Live's" Chris Kattan. He plays a gymnast with a broken neck whose body Stu inhabits while trying to get his own body back from Monkeybone. He turns in an amazing performance as well and I'd like to see him in more. I do not know the technicalities of animation film making. However, the combination of animation characters with real world actors, like Fraser, is done superbly and seamlessly here. In fact, it might ruin the film for me to know how it is done so I'm just as glad that I don't know.