Space Chimps 2 [Blu-ray]

Adults have been spoilt in recent years with kids' films like The Incredibles and Ratatouille offering decent characterisation and dialogue as well as quality animation. Even the lower budget efforts like Planet 51 have provided a few laughs and a reasonable story. But Space Chimps 2 is truly dire. Maybe the original is better and this is a cheap cash in (a la jungle book 2, for example). Certainly if the original is as bad as this there should never have been a sequel.

The plot such as it is, involves a one-dimensional young hero monkey who accidentally (albeit very predictably) blasts off to the planet Malgor. Here he meets up with his Kilowatt, an annoying humanoid with big eyes who simpers platitudes throughout (think Amanda Seyfried in Mamma Mia only even more irritating, something I had not previously thought possible). Kilowatt has an enormous football shaped head, that is crying out for a good kicking from an early stage, but sadly this never materialises. Meanwhile on planet earth, the baddie from Malgor is stuck /petrified as a garden ornament (getting urinated on by passing dogs, the only time my kids laughed in the whole film). For some dramatically unconvincing reason he is suddenly un-stupefied and spends the rest of the film running amok in a generally unamusing way until turned into something 6 inches tall at the end, whereupon he is last seen being chased off by a dog. (Sadly not killed though, thereby worryingly leaving the option open for a third instalment of this franchise). Everyone else - including, sadly, Kilowatt - lives happily ever after.

Even my 5-year old was bored when we saw it at the cinema. Avoid like the plague

I went to see Space Chimps 2 believing there was no way they could possibly make a worse film than the first. They surpassed all my expectations.

After the first Space Chimps movie which saw 4 loveable little chimps blast off into space towards the planet Malgor, and bring back evil alien Zartog, they're back and this time trying to protect Earth from said alien Zartog who is trying to make the chimps disappear once and for all! Space Chimp Comet, a bit of a techno whizz, is desperate to get his first flight into space with his fellow Chimp Astronauts but because of budget cuts is left off the team. He then decides to have a play around in the rocket, but ends up blasting off himself to Malgor where he meets his best friend Kilowatt. However, when Zartog threatens planet Earth and Comet's fellow Space Chimps, can he fly the rocket back to Earth in time to save the day?

While the story itself isn't the best I've ever seen, and seems to take ages to get anywhere even though it's completely obvious how it's going to end, the movie seemed to be enjoyable to Harry and he seemed to love the idea of chimps going in a rocket. The chimps themselves were great characters, very funny and loveable, especially Ham III who is a bit too cool for his own good, and the sweet and charming Comet, the hard worker desperate to get some recognition as a Space Chimp. Zartog is also a great character, not to scary for little ones, especially when he speaks gobbledegook to the humans, even Harry laughed at that!

The animation is nice enough too, there's some fancy scenes with acrobatics, flying jetpacks and the planet of Malgor are all really well done by the CGI crew. It's not up to the fabulous standards of the likes of Shrek, Cars and Up, but it's good enough to watch and I can't pick too many faults with it. The chimps and Zartog were well animated, and I feel the human characters were pretty good too, with a bit of a touching story between 2 of the scientists that was quite sweet! My favourite character had to be the lovely little Kilowatt though, an alien from Malgor whose head lights up when she's scared, so cute!

The plot is easy enough for a child to follow, and because it doesn't deviate too much from it, there's nothing to confuse it's younger audience. Children's attention is well held by the adorable chimps and the funny Zartog, and by the end all the loose ends are tied up and everyone is happy. How lovely. Seriously though, there's no violence, no bad feeling, it's just a happy little film that should suit all ages. Some have criticised the loose plot, but we have to remember that as adults, we aren't the target audience, and the simpler a plot is, the better for children. My cinema was full when we saw it and every single one of the kids sat entranced by it, so that's a good recommendation in my book.

Actually, I didn't think it was too bad at the end of it. The story was enough to hold Harry's attention in a cinema for over an hour which is no mean feat in itself, and it prompted him to ask me several questions about rockets and space which I think it is a good thing, because it certainly got him thinking about topics he would otherwise not yet come across. The animation was good enough for what it is, the plot - while a tad loose in parts, is good enough for young children which is of course the intended audience, so if you're going to see this and have young kids who loved Space Chimps 1, then this is worth a go, it's no Shrek or Toy Story but it's pleasant enough!