SummaryCombining live action and stop animation, this comedy revolves around a cartoonist (Brendan Fraser) and the incredible fantasy world he encounters after he slips into a coma.
Directed By:Henry Selick
Written By:Kaja Blackley, Sam Hamm
Monkeybone
Metascore
Mixed or Average
40
User score
Mixed or Average
5.7
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
18% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
39% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
43% Negative
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
90
A giddy madcap classic, one of the wildest and funniest American comedies in years.
60
A fairly serious psychodrama rendered in cartoon images.
User score
Mixed or Average
42% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
38% Mixed
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
21% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Dec 15, 2020
7
I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did but I gave it a go because Fraser is a solid actor. Monkeybone is such a criminally underrated dark comedy that simply works, mostly because Fraser kills it as the lead. I don't think anyone else could have done it better or as good as he did.
Jul 31, 2025
6
I'm torn. My biggest criticism of "Monkeybone" is the irritating character of Brendan Fraser, or Monkeybone as Brendan Fraser. The actual story being told here also operates within a very conventional framework. The way the story is told is what makes the film so charming. So many crazy images and quirky ideas are presented, the coma world is depicted with such attention to detail, and the escape from organ donation is so energetic that I was delighted with this colorful bag of goodies, despite a few flaws.
58
Selick proves a clumsy director of live-action scenes and never overcomes the muddled, half-baked script or the scatological gags.
42
A movie interesting enough in its conception to appeal to adults winds up being best suited to preadolescent sensibilities.
38
Isn't much more creative than your average gross-out comedy.
25
A shell of a romantic fantasy festooned with characters inspired by and resembling those in the bar scene in "Star Wars," the waiting room in "Beetlejuice" and the circus in "A Bug's Life."
10
Adds up to one numbingly unfunny comedy.
Mar 26, 2020
4
This movie blew my mind 19 years ago. Thinking about it now, first reaction, it ****. But I haven't seen it in 19 years. Anyway I watched it twice. The second time I pulled my first all nighter. I was 11.
My friend andre
Aug 21, 2021
2
It's not just style over substance- it's wasted style, trash writing, stiff/miscast acting, obnoxious inbred titular character, and being a contradictory comedy over substance. Three little positives I can mine out: the visuals, director Selick's animation, and Chris Kattan's physical comedy. The film spends most of the time with a fascination for comas and ‘nightmare juice'. Perhaps it should've stayed in either realm and spared us our lives.
Production Company:
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 1492 Pictures
- Twitching Image Studio
Release Date:Feb 23, 2001
Duration:1 h 33 m
Rating:PG-13
Tagline:If It Yells, If It Swings, It's Got To Be Monkeybone!
Awards
Taurus World Stunt Awards
• 2 Nominations
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 1 Nomination
