Easily bland, The Zookeeper has its moments but is ultimately inferior. Most of the gags miss, especially for half the film. Once the animals start talking, the film is lifted into a more amusing movie, but becomes a romantic-comedy cliche fast enough that it’s incredibly predictable from a mile away.
Kevin James is obviously the star, and does what he can do best: act over the top, mostly with slapstick, physical comedy. He and Rosario Dawson have great chemistry, and together made me smile alot, which is amazing in a romantic comedy. Both played their parts well, but it took quite awhile to warm up to Dawson’s zoo doctor Kate role. Leslie Bibb plays a coldhearted bitch well, and Joe Rogan is a perfect fit as a villainous douchebag.
Ken Jeong plays his usual typecast: odd, creepy, and just completely unappealing, and unfunny. Second week in a row where Jeong has been the same role, and just awful. The voice roles are well done, and are all amusing to an extent. Adam Sandler’s odd, idiot-sounding monkey was a little offbeat and dumb. All the characters seemed like they were some kind of goofy emotion, and I suppose that’s why they all seemed to work well together.
The plot is laughable, and definitely blurs reality. Like I said, it was very predictable and your typical rom-com cliche. I think the largest problem I had was the chunk of film where Kevin James’ character is just a complete asshole. He neglects everything that’s built up his character, and when Griffin is chasing Stephanie, it’s obvious that she’s not the right person. The fact he bends over backward to impress someone who is unlikable and becomes unlikable in the process is completely repulsing and just disgusting, especially to the audience.
Unfortunately, this is going to have to be a shorter review because there isn’t anything else I can say about Zookeeper. It’s slapstick-ridden, heartfelt, but there are plenty of missed opportunities for laughs, especially for the first half. The second half transitions to a more amusing tone, but in turn becomes the epitome of a romantic comedy cliche, and is very predictable. Overall, The Zookeeper isn’t the worst film ever seen, but it’s definitely a major bomb compared to the rest of the summer.
