‘Monkeybone’ a crude tale of libido

In Theaters

“Monkeybone.” Directed by Henry Selick. Written by Sam Hamm, based on the comic book “Dark Town” by Kaja Blackley. 87 minutes. PG-13.

The new Brendan Fraser movie, “Monkeybone,” isn’t your standard issue disaster and disappointment. It’s a colossal disappointment, a gorilla-sized disaster, a film that’s so bad on so many levels, one can barely believe it comes from Henry Selick, the director of the masterful, stop-animation films, “James and the Giant Peach” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Those films, like “Monkeybone,” were marked by their artistry and craftsmanship, but, unlike “Monkeybone,” their appeal went beyond their special effects. Each film followed dark, compelling narratives underscored with wit and interesting characters.

In comparison, “Monkeybone” is crude and juvenile, a ridiculous film that makes the enormous mistake of following pop culture’s increasing fascination with the toilet bowl – and all the unpleasantness that can be found within it.

Working from a script by Sam Hamm – and, more notably, without the guidance of Tim Burton, who produced “Nightmare” and “Giant Peach” – Selick presents a “comedy” about an all-out war between a cartoonist (Brendan Fraser) and his own genitalia.

That’s right, folks, the monkeybone in “Monkeybone” may appear to be a high-strung, cartoon monkey that springs to life, but that monkey is nevertheless meant to represent something that has nothing to do with a primate and everything to do with the cartoonist’s libido.

Drawing from a wealth of better films, especially “Beetlejuice,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “The Mask,” “Monkeybone” might be pleasing to look at, but it has none of the depth that made its source films so enjoyable.

It follows Stu Miley (Fraser), a nerdish cartoonist on the cusp of making a fortune from his popular comic strip, “Monkeybone,” when he and his girlfriend, Julie (Bridget Fonda), are in a car accident. Julie walks away from the crash, but Stu – poor Stu – slips into a coma and descends into the nightmarish world of Downtown. There, with the evil Monkeybone (voice of John Turturro) now threatening to steal his soul, Stu must find a way to cheat Death (Whoopie Goldberg) and get back to the living before he loses Julie forever.

With the exception of Chris Kattan’s brief, yet very funny turn as a deceased organ donor who literally donates his body to Stu, “Monkeybone” fails to wed its special effects to a story that gets consistent laughs.

Instead, it just lies there on the screen, its comedy as stiff and as lifeless as a dead gorilla in the mist.

Grade: D

On Video

“Bedazzled.” Directed by Harold Ramis. Written by Ramis, Peter Tolan and Larry Gelbart. 93 minutes. PG-13.

Stanley Donen’s 1967 British comedy “Bedazzled” starred Peter Cook as the Devil, Raquel Welch as Lust, and Dudley Moore as an introverted dolt who unwittingly wishes himself into a series of nightmares to get the girl he loves. It was hilarious.

Now on video is “Bedazzled,” a less funny remake directed by Harold Ramis that stars Brendan Fraser as a computer geek and Elizabeth Hurley as Satan, a saucy devil in a red dress who promises to find him love for the mere price of his soul.

Hurley may not have the edge of Cook’s Lucifer, but she has as much sass as Welch’s Lust. She’s great fun to watch, a Faustian powerhouse of smoky eyes and big hair who sounds exactly like Jackie Collins doing an imitation of Madonna’s pan-European accent. It’s creepy, but effective.

The film, which is at its best when Hurley is mincing about on screen in her endless array of clothes, swirls around Elliot Richards (Fraser) and his crush on Alison (Frances O’Connor), a co-worker whose doe eyes recall Bambi’s, but with none of the fierce intelligence. She barely knows Elliot exists, but Elliot sells his soul to change all that. After signing the Devil’s contract, he’s given seven wishes to become anyone he wants – which, since he’s vague about what he wants, allows the Devil ample room for wicked turns of interpretation.

The film does become befuddled when its premise starts to wear thin, but it’s ultimately saved by Hurley, whose consistently funny machinations help to keep it out of cinematic purgatory

Grade: B-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6.