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“Monkey Kingdom” is Disneynature’s newest documentary that follows a newborn baby monkey and his mother as they struggle to survive the hardships on the bottom of the social ladder in their monkey troop.
“Monkey Kingdom” fails to have the drama, cuddliness and majesty of Disney’s previous nature films “Chimpanzee,” “Bears” and “African Cats.” However, the Disney studios have once again produced an award winner. The Earth Day pegged franchise has a long established level of excellence, education and entertainment that audiences have grown to expect, myself included.
The story of Mya and her baby Kip take us from the abandoned ancient city in the Sri-Lanka jungle, to the bustling market place of a busy city on the jungle’s edge. The hardships of survival when you’re at the bottom of the social monkey ladder are echoes of our own culture. We see Mya gain importance in her troop, and build a better life for herself and her baby as her scrappy survival skills become greater assets to the troop’s survival. A great deal of Mya’s struggles and triumphs had me comparing her to Melanie Griffith in the 1988 movie “Working Girl.”
I wanted a verity of opinions to bring to you for this movie – so I took my 4 kids with me! My son is 18, and my daughters are 16, 14 and 8. Everyone enjoyed the movie, but all for different reasons.
The 18 year old son was completely entranced with the beauty and majesty of the cinematography. It is disclosed at the end of the movie that several of the shots took months to capture. Set in the jungles of Sri Lanka, “Monkey Kingdom” had my son on the edge of his seat at each peril and challenge Mia faced. It also had him laughing out loud to the point of tears.
My 16 and 14 year old daughters were also moved by the beauty and dynamic story telling, but both agreed that it was the music that moved the story along and kept it interesting, funny and dramatic.
When I asked the 8 year old what she thought of the movie, I reminded her that getting to stay out late on a school night didn’t count on what she thought of the movie. To her credit, she tilted her head and gave my question serious thought. “Mom, I loved it! It was the best movie about animals I’ve ever seen. It was a good story, and I bet I know more about monkeys than even my teacher!” I’ll give that a two thumbs way up for the 8 year old.
But after all is said and done, what did I think? I think Disney has come a long way from it’s Sunday night wild life episodes on the TV show “The Wonderful World of Disney.” Far from the dry narration and repetitive camera shots of the past, “Monkey Kingdom” couples a lively engaging story pared up with inventive and innovative camera work. Much like my teenage daughters, I also feel that the music used is a perfect pairing for the action and storyline.
With the voice of Tina Fey narrating, “Monkey Kingdom” definitely reached into my heart. Fey, much like John C. Reilly in the 2014 film “Bears,” isn’t afraid to let her personality shine through in telling the story of Mya and her baby Kip. Rather than playing the impartial voice for hire, Fey jumps right into the mischievous fray, making this already delightful dissection of the business of monkey business that much more infectious.
Sadly I found myself dozing off a few times. The story was a little too simplistic to keep my attention to the level that other Disneynature movies like “Oceans” did. That being said, I am still very glad that I was able to see “Monkey Kingdom.” All of my children loved it, and I walked away with a new appreciation for the life of a macaques monkey.
In theaters April 17th
