IslandGuru
Who payed the critics
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Cristal
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Dalbert Pringle
Unfortunately (for me) the minuses of this particular "Disneynature" documentary clearly out-weighed its pluses by a jungle mile.And (for me) the biggest, most irritating minus in "Chimpanzee" was having to tolerate Tim ("I'm-So-Funny") Allen's totally idiotic, voice-over narration. Allen's asinine, and completely unfunny chin-wagging got so bloody annoying that, before long, I had no choice but to watch most of this nature-documentary with the sound turned right off.This documentary also lost serious points for not only injecting into its tale of the jungle horrible, pop music that didn't blend in with the scenario - But it actually had the absolute stupidity of bringing unwelcome humans into the action, as well. Thankfully this nonsense took place in the story's final 10 minutes.On the other hand - What really impressed me about "Chimpanzee" was its excellent camera-work - Not only of the chimps, but of the beautiful African setting, as well.Anyways - Tim Allen's irksome yattering aside - From a purely visual standpoint, "Chimpanzee" was certainly well-worth a view.
Wizard-8
This is the second nature documentary from Disney that I've seen, and like the other one I saw, it's a mixed bag. On the positive side, it is very well photographed, with some spectacular shots (especially on Blu- ray). It's also not boring, and there are some interesting revelations on the lives of chimpanzees and what they have to go through.Unfortunately, at the same time this documentary has some serious flaws. Most obvious is the narration by Tim Allen, which is often very annoying and jokey. I realize that they were trying to attract kids, but I think Disney could have found a narrator that would appeal to both kids and their parents (and written better things to say.) Also, the events that we get to see sometimes come across like they were concocted in the editing room. It was not a surprise when I read other user comments here after watching the movie that gave evidence that this documentary wasn't always telling the truth as to what actually happened.There is some good stuff here, but adults will probably have some issues with "Chimpanzee" all the same. So it's best to show it to your kids while you are out of the room doing something else.
David Traversa
The most striking feature I noticed while watching this film was the resemblance of these creatures to my neighbors. It's incredible how similar to us they are!Granted, Doña Carmen and Don José don't go as far as to deflea each other while carrying on a casual conversation on a sidewalk, but the similarities in body gestures and specially when persistently looking at the camera lens (it happened several times, whether intentionally or not) and we could see overwhelmingly human eyes looking at us, can be quite disturbing.Impeccable photography with so many close ups that one wonders constantly at how they had managed to take those shots without disturbing the animals. I'm sure Disney has the most sophisticated equipment in the World in order to present such splendipherous depth of lenses and superb sharpness all the time, even from long distances, but even so, chimpanzees have a very sensitive sense of smell and I'm sure they could detect human presence from afar, but apparently it left them unconcerned and they proceeded naturally with their daily chores.The forest, breathtaking, specially from the air, and the lushness of all that green carpet we see below seems to go forever on behind those far away mountains; when the camera goes down to ground level it's disconcerting to notice how very little sunlight reaches these animals.Since it was a Disney film, obviously thought out for children, the notorious lack of restrain among monkeys and chimps when it comes to bodily functions, including everything related to sex, which is so habitual to see in zoos in broad daylight, here there is no trace whatsoever of it, like in those old Doris Day films, where everything was squeaky clean. A good film for Eco-friendly fans. P.S.: I gave it a 9 because of the titanic efforts of the whole crew and the tenacity they put into the project, working under such harsh and probably dangerous conditions.
jennyallworthy
After taking my husband to see Chimpanzee last night (as I have no school age kids to drag) I have to give it two bananas up! We both loved it. What a refreshing change to see a film that almost any age could see together and have a great discussion afterward.Gorgeously filmed and just the right length to keep smaller ones from getting bored, I was amazed at the footage that the filmmakers got of these chimps. I am one of those who has trouble leaving the primate area of the zoo and it does make you marvel at their similarities with humans.You'll feel like you just went on a trip to the rain forest of Africa, and I can't imagine a child or teen not liking this. Or an adult for that matter.