REVIEW: Curious George
Curious George
Dir Matthew O’Callaghan
This film should have been simplicity itself. It should have been a nice colourful cartoon about an inquisitive monkey who gets into all sorts of trouble after finding himself in the heart of civilisation. Instead, it turns out to be a cartoon whose focus is more on the predicaments of the Man in the Yellow Hat (Will Ferrell), portrayed as a bumbling, nervous museum guide, not the cigarpuffing explorer of the books.
While this may aggravate fans of the original series by H A Rey, it probably means that it will drag in more audience numbers, since the love story aspect of the film will manage to hold the attention of parents. That said, it comes close to failing at doing even this correctly: its saving grace is the wonderfully apt music of Jack Johnson, which at times is more vibrant than the film itself.
The original 1941 script has been updated for the world we live in today, and we see George attempting to navigate everything from forklift trucks to space shuttles. It is sweet, it is cute, it will make you smile, and if you happen to know some children then they will love you for taking them to see it. But if you are just a student, there is not much more to it than that, even for die-hard fans of the original adventures.
25th May 2006