Kirk De Micco’s Space Chimps

“Dad, which was your favorite part of Space Chimps?” asked the four-year-old the day after a media sneak peek. “Dunno, Harry—probably the part where Kilowatt lets the giant monster swallow her.” Kilowatt’s an alien with a giant, glowing head perched atop a teensy-tiny body; she blows high-pitched raspberries when excited and is voiced by Kristin Chenoweth, who seems to think she’s still on Broadway. All in all, a very funny character—probably should have been the star of the film, rather than Andy Samberg, Patrick Warburton, and Cheryl Hines as monkeys shot into a wormhole to see if there’s life on the other side of the galaxy, yawn. But the wee one wasn’t impressed. “But, Dad, that scene was just a rip-off from Star Wars!” Pardon? “When Kilowatt says, ‘If you swallow me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine,’ that’s what Obi-Wan says to Darth Vader before he cuts him in half.” We agreed that the payoff following the big gulp was a giggle, but then it hit him: “Dad, the whole movie’s a rip-off!” Ah, they can’t even sneak one past the pre-K crowd, which already saw this when it was called Space Wiggles. The animation, incidentally, is half-assed, like they ran out of the $292.96 budget halfway through. Rip-off, indeed.