Brendan Fraser’s Funniest Comedy Is A Dark Raunchy Fantasy New Fans Can’t Discover
Around the time Brendan Fraser was acting in Bedazzled and The Mummy Returns, he was also in a much more unknown movie called Monkeybone. This film had a lot of potential with big actors and a famous director, but it unfortunately didn’t quite live up to the hype.
The Bizarre Monkeybone
Brendan Fraser (The Whale) plays a character in Monkeybone named Stuart “Stu” Miley. Stu is a cartoonist who is known for his eccentric cartoon monkey named Monkeybone. The character is crude but funny and seems to be used to personify the cartoonist’s darker thoughts as he grows up.
A Demented After Life…Sort Of
Things are starting to go right for Brendan Fraser’s character at the beginning of Monkeybone. He’s getting an animated series and lots of merchandise thanks to his famous cartoon character. Everything is falling into place, so he also decides to propose to his girlfriend.
Unfortunately, before he can do that, Brendan Fraser’s character gets into a car crash and falls into a coma, where he ends up in a place called Down Town alongside Monkeybone. Stu learns that to wake up, he must get an Exit Pass, but he’s not the only one hoping to get a body.
A Box Office Bomb Despite The Cast
The movie combines live-action and stop-motion animation. It’s loosely based on a graphic novel called Dark Town by Kaja Blackley. In addition to Brendan Fraser, Monkeybone’s other cast members include Bridget Fonda (A Simple Plan), Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Rose McGowan (Charmed), Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act), and John Turturro (Barton Fink).
Unfortunately, this film has never done well. When released in theaters in 2001, it was considered a box-office bomb, with many negative reviews centered around the visuals, humor, and even the characters. Even after release, Brendan Fraser’s Monkeybone didn’t earn many positive reviews, with a 20 percent critic score and a 27 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
From The Director Of Massive Animated Hits
While the reviews on IMDb are a bit better, a 4.8 out of 10, it’s still not great. Considering this was a movie directed by Henry Selick, many fans were surprised by how bad it was. Selick was also responsible for directing movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline.
Selick, like Brendan Fraser, was silent for a long while on Monkeybone, but he eventually explained in an interview with Double Toasted why he thinks the movie didn’t work out as well as he’d hoped: “I have a few feelings. I don’t feel [Monkeybone] would ever have been a big hit as it was… they dumped the film with no publicity, not a single ad, because they just figured well it’s a failure, we don’t wanna help it any which way…It certainly would have done better if they advertised it a little…”
Only Available Via Video On Demand
Despite the bad reviews, the movie does have some charm and hilarious moments. If you’re looking for a movie featuring a strange twist on Beetlejuice, then you may find Brendan Fraser in Monkeybone to be worth watching. The movie isn’t perfect, and some characters don’t get enough screen time, but the chaotic Down Town, fight for survival, and strange characters make for an interesting watch.
If you want to watch Brendan Fraser in Monkeybone, you might have a hard time finding it. It’s not available on any streaming platform included in the base price. However, if you want to give the movie a shot, Monkeybone is available on Amazon Prime Video to rent.
