KID- FRIENDLY NATURE DOC HITTING THE SWEET SPOT
Disney movie earnest but also likes the monkey business
April 22 is Earth Day, which means it’s time for Disneynature to release its latest kid- friendly environmental documentary. I’ve stopped expecting any heavyduty science from these adorable films, and taken to hoping the narrator doesn’t grate on the ears.
Easily the low point on that front was Tim Allen’s jokey, mugging voice- over to 2012’ s Chimpanzee, which had me wanting to throw feces at the screen. Samuel L. Jackson’s commentary on 2011’ s African Cats was perfect, in part because you never knew if he was going to swear.
This one features Tina Fey who, let’s face it, can do no wrong. Writer, producer, actor, Oscarnominated director and Nobel laureate — some of those are made up — Fey now adds narrator to her list of accomplishments, and hits the sweet spot between cloyingly earnest and am-I- really- being- asked- to- saythis? Though if you listen carefully you can catch a welcome whiff of cynicism.
For the monkeys, however, this is serious business. The film follows a group of tuque macaques ( named for their natural bowl cuts) living in the ruins of an ancient city in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Maya, with “big, friendly eyes,” ekes out an existence near the bottom of the troop’s social hierarchy, which is conveniently duplicated in the physical strata they occupy in the trees.
At the top, literally as well as figuratively, is “the sisterhood,” a trio of alpha females with handily evil- looking mugs that look as though they overdid it on the rouge. Also up there is Raja, who has “first rights in all things,” the nearest the film comes to admitting that monkeys have sex, too.
Maya casts those big, friendly eyes on Kumar, who gets rebuffed by the troop but not before leaving a present in the form of Kip, Maya’s baby. Will mother and newborn survive the lack of food and the presence of monkey- hungry monitor lizards? Not to spoil things, but you can bring the kids without fear they’ll be overly traumatized by events.
There are, to be sure, tense scenes of battle with another troop, and even the death of a monkey, which results in an oddly touching gathering of macaques around their fallen comrade. As is so often the case with nature docs, Monkey Kingdom reveals ( and revels in) a common wellspring of mammalian emotional responses that we humans still share.
The kids’ favourite scene will no doubt be the one in which the monkeys invade a human settlement and help themselves to a birthday- party buffet, backed by a score that’s about an eighthnote away from a lawsuit from Lalo Schifrin, composer of the Mission: Impossible theme. It’s clearly a setup, but it’s shamelessly enjoyable and should also make you grateful that the most dexterous urban marauder we have is merely the raccoon.
Monkey Kingdom is beautifully shot by co- directors Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill, who each have a slew of nature doc credits to their names. As is common with these annual events, the closing credits feature a peek behind the scenes, which you might as well stay for since the whole package is still just 81 minutes long.
And coming to theatres for Earth Day 2016: Born in China, highlighting the wildlife of the Asian nation. No word yet on who will narrate, but cultural sensitivity might suggest Zhang Ziyi. Or Fey if she wants the gig: Don’t monkey with perfection unless you have to.