El reino de los monos

"Monkey Kingdom" is a wildlife documentary done in the trademarked Disney style - that is, to say, with lots of family-friendly positiveness and unyielding good cheer.

The movie takes us deep into the jungles of Sri Lanka, where a hierarchical society of toque macaque monkeys make their home in the shadow of a long-abandoned ancient city. The main focus is on one female monkey "named" Maya, a low-born member of the community who is consigned to a lifetime of serving those born into the higher strata (the caste system here makes India look like a model of egalitarianism and social mobility in comparison).

"Monkey Kingdom" is obviously aimed at a younger audience, which explains, but doesn't quite excuse, its tendency to talk down to its audience, speaking of the animals' thoughts and feelings in the most blatantly anthropomorphic of terms. It's probably not helped by the jejune Mark Linfield narration (spoken by Tina Fey), which can't resist interjecting corny asides at every opportunity. And a lot of it sure feels staged, especially a trip to a local city and a carefully choreographed raid on a birthday party (how DO they get their cameras in all those different places? Stick around for the closing credits to get an inkling of how it's done).

On the plus side, the high-definition photography is drop-dead gorgeous, and the glimpses the movie provides into monkey sociology - not too far removed from human sociology, I must confess - is often fascinating to observe. Though, I must admit, I frequently found myself wishing the cameras would turn away from the monkeys to explore the nearby ruins - and the history behind them - instead.

Monkey Kingdom

The best thing about being a part of an ape empire is that you can rest assure that your children will never have lice for long.

In fact, grooming one another is only one of the odd practices featured in this simian documentary.

When female toque macaque Maya migrates to the remains of an antediluvian jungle temple in Sri Lanka called Castle Rock, she learns quickly that the roost is ruled over by alpha macaque Raja and three sister monkeys.

Banished to the bottom of the food chain, Maya must now struggle to feed her newborn Kip, whose father Kumar has since flown the coop.

Painstakingly captured on-camera by Disneynature's intrepid film crew and wittily narrated by Tina Fey, Monkey Kingdom is a comical and captivating look at the social disorder of our distant cousins.

In fact, any more poop flinging and this could pass as a reality TV show.

Green Light

vidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Summary: A nature documentary that follows a newborn monkey and its mother as they struggle to survive within the competitive social hierarchy of the monkey kingdom, a dynamic group of monkeys who live in ancient ruins found deep in the storied jungles of South Asia.

This is a great nature documentary to buy for your kids.They show you the playful and human side of this group of monkeys and it's all narrated by a female voice actor who has a warm and gentle voice. The documentary has a very story-telling feel to it that I'm sure your kids will love. Do be careful though, there are deaths in this documentary. It kind of surprised me at first that they would put that scene in this movie, but in the end it kind of made sense. It was done in a respectful way to show the viewers what it was like in the monkey kingdom. They cover all the basis and provided some great shots of the environment around them. Overall, very informative and children friendly documentary.

Pop music was really annoying and not appropriate. Narration a little overdone. Documentary would have been enjoyable and rated higher if not for these two factors. Some scenes seem obviously staged but overall, beautiful visuals and an intimate view into the animal world.

Previous to this documentary, I had seen several of the other animal documentaries by Disneynature, and I thought they were pretty good. However, this time around things don't work out so well. It's not an awful movie; there are some good things to be found here and there. The Sri Lankan scenery is colorful and attractive to the eye. The photography is also well done (see this movie, if you must, on Blu- ray!). And you do get to learn some interesting things about the particular kind of monkeys the movie showcases.

However, while the previous Disneynature movies were presented in a way that adults could enjoy them alongside their kids, this is not the case this time. There is an often juvenile feeling to this documentary. The Tina Fey narration is quite often cloying and childish, and several times the mood is spoiled by the soundtrack playing loud pop songs. Just as big of a problem is the direction at times. It's clear that several situations are staged and manipulated by the filmmakers. This might have been because there isn't that much story or drama elsewhere. Even though the movie runs about 81 minutes, it sure feels slow at times.

There have been much worse documentaries out there, but in the end this particular one is strictly kids stuff. It will entertain your kids (at least if they are in a patient mood at the time), but if you want to watch a documentary with your kids, pick one of the other Disneynature offerings.