With so many animated films being released these days, it’s a lot harder to stand out from the pack – that is, unless your name is Pixar – but Fox’s “Space Chimps” manages to do just that. Unfortunately, it’s not in the way they hoped, and though kids will likely enjoy the banal adventure, their parents will be wishing they were watching “WALL*E” again instead. The story centers on Ham III (voiced by Andy Samberg), the grandson of a famous chimp astronaut who makes a living as a circus performer. When a NASA probe discovers alien life on a faraway planet, a team of space chimps is launched into orbit to check it out, and the famous Ham III is sent along for the publicity. When they arrive on the planet, however, they discover that an evil alien named Zartog (Jeff Daniels) has commandeered the NASA rover and is using it to oppress the rest of the planet’s population. With only an hour before their ship is automatically sent back to Earth, Ham III and fellow chimp Luna (Cheryl Hines) must save their commander (Patrick Warburton) and free the harmless inhabitants before it’s too late. Of course, if you’ve gotten this far into the movie, there’s no point in turning back. The story itself is harmless, and kids won’t mind the tired clichés that are used throughout, but did they really need to include so many damn chimp puns?
