Zookeeper
When things get rough in the love department for the kind hearted zookeeper Griffin Keyes (Kevin James) the animals decide enough is enough and lend the caretaker a hand before it‘s too late and he leaves the zoo. To do this they have to break their code of silence and reveal their greatest secret…THEY CAN TALK!
What a cute movie! I actually hesitated on watching this film due to the fact I’m not a huge animal movie person. I tend to think the animals look fake and any sort of talking by them looks ridiculous. Well, it seems I was shown differently by this film. The animatronics and actual animal performances were fantastic. The interacting movements of the animals and mouths in relation to the speaking were remarkable. After watching the special features on the animal visual effects I saw why. There was an unbelievable amount of work and talent that went into the project. It all definitely showed and the end result was just remarkable. They definitely turned an non-animal film lover into one. Of course it didn’t hurt to have an amazingly hysterical actor accompanying them.
Bernie the Gorilla is actually a complete animatronics suit. Tom Woodruff Jr., co-designer of Bernie and suit performer, put a great deal of time and effort into the production of this suit and the mechanics of it. The end result was really something wonderful. Bernie the Gorilla was a great part of the film and looked incredibly realistic. Tom Woodruff Jr. and Garon Michaels diid a fantastic job maneuvering the suit. The expressions team did an outstanding job with the facial emotions and muscles, It all looked incredible. Nick Nolte lent his voice to the massive gorilla to complete the package.
All of the acting was top notch in Zookeeper. Kevin James has got to be one of the funniest actors I have ever seen. His body language and expressions are really what pull it all together and create a rare form of comedy. A lot of people are funny but it takes a special kind of person to pull of hilarious. Rosario Dawson was a nice counterpart to Kevin James. They seemed to have nice chemistry and were very enjoyable to watch together. She has a nice calm about her with humor laced throughout that calm. Joe Rogan (Gale) and Leslie Bibb (Stephanie) were also great additions to the cast. Stephanie, the girl who broke Griffin’s heart, is an outstanding character. She is very entertaining along with her ex-boyfriend Gale. The pair is really something else. They add the a great deal of comedy to the film.
The film looked and sounded outstanding. The visual effects, as I’ve been going on about, were really amazing. I was very impressed with the animals. The 1080p High Definition really shows off the beauty in the film. The clarity of the film visually and sound wise were both wonderful.
My only real complaint about the film would have to be the amount of time the animals were actually in it. At first I felt it was going to be geared more toward children/family comically but quickly realized it is actually more of a romantic comedy or family film with older kids. Most of the comedy is geared toward adults, although older kids may enjoy the funnier goofy moments. Some of the funniest moments kids may enjoy are definitely the bloopers during the end credits. It’s just not something I can see younger children staying interested in. It is a very clean, very funny film just not exactly what I would have originally imagined it being.
Special Features
Blu-Ray Exclusives
-Includes Playable PlayStation3 Game Demo of Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One!
-Featuring 45 Minutes of Gameplay
-Play alone or with up to 3 friends as Ratchet, Clank, Qwark or Dr. Nefarious!
-Deleted Scenes
-The Cast of Zookeeper
-Behind the Scenes
-Be The Bear
-movieIQ+sync
-Laughing is Contagious (Blooper Reel)
-Bernie the Gorilla
-The Furry Co-Stars
-Creating the Visual Effects (The Animals)
These special features were great. They really went in depth with the production of the film. The animal details were incredibly interesting. The level of difficulty filming animals is crazy. These are great features really worth watching. The bloopers and deleted scenes are always fun but the really great features are the making of Bernie the Gorilla and animal animatronics. All in all great special features.