Is man unable to evolve? Is the director of a talking animal franchise unable to break free from its creative shackles? Is straight-to-video auteur Robert Vince trying to tell us something? In his latest Air Bud production, Monkey Up, a disgruntled soft drink mascot ironically boasts, “It’s about time I was recognized for my superior talent and humility.” Just as that last word is spoken, a credit appears on screen: directed by Robert Vince. Vince has directed 16 films, from his debut MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000) to the execrable Space Buddies (2009) to the actually not bad Russell Madness (2015), all of them talking animal movies. Is the unhappy thespian’s bitter wisecrack a cry for help?
Vince is not an incompetent director. He knows how to set up shots and get the acting performances required by his sub-genre. In this case, that unfortunately means cartoonish performances with no emotional shading. Vince has one of the four writing credits for Monkey Up, and it seems more than a coincidence that the film’s star, Monty (voiced by Skylar Astin), is trapped in a restrictive contract as the spokes-animal for the Monkey Up energy drink.
We meet Monty on the set of a television commercial in which he impresses a dumb blonde with his bravery by parachuting out of a banana-colored biplane. The ad’s over-saturated colors immerse us in a highly artificial environment, one in which most humans don’t seem to find it unusual that Monty can talk. In fact, another studio detail seems more unusual: this 21st century talking animal energy drink commercial is apparently shot on 35mm film. The leading primate of course has creative conflicts with his director Stan, (Chris Coppola, not to be confused with the director and member of the Hollywood dynasty), and storms off the set, commandeering a skateboard to evade two grown men chasing after a talking monkey.
At only 83-minutes, Monkey Up has a surprisingly dense plot that may be too much for young children to follow. (Its PG rating is presumably thanks to Monty’s family at the zoo, which is wont to hurl feces at intruders.) Monty’s first stop after his escape is at the offices of prestigious film director Angelino Cappello (Danny Woodburn), an obvious nod to Francis Ford Coppola. Rejected by the establishment, Monty then finds his way to Hertz Toys, where he takes a nap in a dollhouse that is then shipped to the New Jersey family of toy company president Clare Adams (Erin Allin O’Reilly).
Monty wakes up to the squeals of Clare’s young daughter Sophie (Kayden Magnuson), and here the film begins to navigate its dysfunctional family trope. The Adams are quintessential distracted parents; mom Clare absent-mindedly puts a crate of eggs in the oven, while dad Jim (Jonathan Mangum) falls asleep at a manual typewriter trying to write a novel. (Naturally, Monty writes his own novel while Jim is sleeping, who wakes thinking it’s his own work.)
The social-media savvy simian frequently speaks in obnoxious lines like, “hashtag monkeyouttahere!” But he’s not supposed to be likable. Monty got out of the energy drink business because he wanted to perform Shakespeare, but he soon swings his way into character development when Sophie and her brother Ethan (Caleb Burgess) teach him the meaning of selflessness and family. Incredibly, Monty becomes a surrogate parent, coaching Ethan in his audition for the school production of Romeo and Juliet and coaching Sophie in gymnastics.
Monkey Up is competently made with good production values, and its script almost passes for a satire of an increasingly dehumanizing entertainment landscape. On the other hand, any pathos the film could have derived from its dysfunctional family dynamic is overwhelmed by cartoonish, cheap humor and a leading monkey that never becomes likable despite his character’s evolution. Is Monty’s abrasiveness an indictment of the ultimate douchey evolution: man? Perhaps if Robert Vince is ever released from his Air Bud contract, we may find out.