The Chimp Stuff
Ham III is the grandson of the great Ham I, the first chimp astronaut, but unlike his grandfather Ham III isn't an astronaut but a circus act who gets shot out of a cannon to entertain the audiences. But then a Senator comes up with a publicity stunt as a peace loving planet has been taken over by the monstrous Zartog and needs help and so he plans to send Ham III into space as part of a mission to rescue the planet. But whilst Ham' simian colleagues are trained and are made of "the right stuff" the laid back Ham isn't and he is going to have to do some growing up if he is to be a hero like his grandfather.
Some animations have that thing, that something special which makes them work for both children and adults, you could call it "the right stuff"; sorry couldn't resist dropping that in there. Anyway "Space Chimps" isn't one of those movies with "the right stuff" but works for its intended audience which is children. As such as a grown up "Space Chimps" doesn't have a lot to offer, some humour, some cultural reference but very little which will grab them and I include the animation detail as whilst a nicely rendered animation it lacks the detail which wows, basically visually it is ordinary.
But as I said "Space Chimps" is aimed at children and is full of colourful daftness which will keep younger eyes amused. There is the main fun of Ham being a slacker who has to find the right stuff to become a hero and there is a range of googly eyed monster and daft contraptions. The good news is that most of it is completely inoffensive and has a good selection of actors chosen to voice the actors including Patrick Warburton who I swear is the go to guy for muscle bound/ sport jock style animated characters.
What this all boils down to is that "Space Chimps" isn't one of the great animations as it fails to offer a lot for grown ups. But as animated entertainment for children you have to say it works with lots of visual daftness which will keep them amused
