72
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80TheWrapInkoo KangTheWrapInkoo KangThe film boasts all the cinematic strengths we’ve come to expect from the animal-focused nonfic label... But director Mark Linfield’s film is also distinguished by its fascinating focus on the rigid but not immutable social hierarchy of the macaque world, as well as a smartly structured story of repression, rebellion, and triumph.
- 80VarietyAndrew BarkerVarietyAndrew BarkerThe eighth entry in Disney’s eco-minded Disneynature series, Monkey Kingdom may well be its cheekiest, funniest and most purely entertaining.
- 75Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianSlant MagazineElise NakhnikianThe cumulative effect is cheerily life-affirming, a bracing infusion of macaque-style joie de vivre.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe gorgeous flora and fauna of Sri Lanka are well-represented, even as the monkey business ranges from cute to cutesy.
- 75New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartOn the whole, though, you couldn’t do much better than Monkey Kingdom to get kids invested in learning about, and protecting, the natural world.
- 75St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSt. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMonkey Kingdom tugs our heartstrings to the top of the trees. With a lot of patience, and perhaps a little trickery, directors Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill have produced a simian “Cinderella.”
- 70The DissolveGenevieve KoskiThe DissolveGenevieve KoskiEverything Monkey Kingdom lacks in scientific rigor, it makes up for in pure entertainment value—and then some.
- 63Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsEven though the film shows very little of the rough stuff, it's still fairly traumatizing. By the end you may feel like seeing a documentary about a more fair-minded and evenhanded treatment of a society's citizens.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberThe Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberThe narration is overused, but at least Fey makes an engaging hostess.
- 60Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlThe moment-to-moment inventions are great fun, but the larger narrative inventions are less inspired.