Welcome to Zmonkeyboneman.com! I was a bit surprised last year when Roger Ebert praised The Cell. He did the same thing a few years earlier when he raved about Dark City. Although those are splendid visual films, they are terribly lacking in the story department. Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Ebert all but trashed the new movie Monkeybone, stating that the film was a big, convoluted mess. I'm not going to argue that fact. This movie is all over the place, but I found it much more entertaining than The Cell and Dark City, and I believe it's because of it's light tone. Or perhaps it's because movies have been so bad as of late.

Throw Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beetlejuice and Cool World in a blender and out pops Monkeybone, a zany new comedy/fantasy starring Brendan Fraser. Fraser plays S. Miley, creator of a popular cartoon known as Monkeybone. This title character is a spastic, computer generated primate (voiced by John Turturro), an annoying little creature that creates all sorts of mischief when ever he can. Miley is having the time of his life. Not only is he responsible for one of the world's most popular cartoons, but he's about to propose to the woman of his dreams (the likable Bridget Fonda). Unfortunately, a horrible accident sends Miley into a coma where he must endure a hell created in his own mind. While there, he must outwit death (Whoopi Goldberg) so he can return to the woman he loves.

Monkeybone is only about ninety minutes long and it's crammed with enough material to make a couple of movies. But visually, director Henry Selick (James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas) manages to dazzle the audience with a vast array of breathtaking imagery. It almost made me forget about the inept screenplay penned by the usually dependable Sam Hamm. He's working with an interesting idea, but it get lost in excess.

Fraser has done physical comedy before (see George of the Jungle), and here he manages to put forth as much comical energy as he can muster. The film is also peppered with a range of rather pointless, but funny bit players including; Goldberg, Rose McGowan, Dave Foley (News Radio), Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live), and (Will and Grace). Also, watch for a brief cameo by Harry Knowles from Aint-it-cool-news.com .

Monkeybone is hardly a masterpiece. It's very disjointed, many of the jokes fall flat, and the final act is sluggish. Still, this movie is incredible to look at and gets a big dose of pep from star Fraser. For those reasons alone, I'd say check the film out. On a final note, I would like to point out that Monkeybone may be a bit scary for the little ones, so think twice about taking them to see it.