Zookeeper
User Score
4.2 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 88 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 88
  3. Negative: 44 out of 88

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  1. cameronmorewood
    Nov 7, 2012
    4
    A truly boring and mostly plotless film, but it manages to at the very least maintain a sense of likability throughout its duration, and that's more than I can say for some of Kevin James' other films.
  2. Zilcell
    Mar 16, 2012
    7
    Don't say no to this! Its just my opinion. My whole family thought that this was funny throughout, and I thought that the story was better than many recent Sandler movies.
  3. TheQuietGamer
    Oct 28, 2011
    7
    While there are better ways to spend your free time this is still a solid movie, but definitely one for younger audiences (although there is some swearing), it can be predictable at times, and takes a little while to get into it, I did manage to get several laughs out there, and honestly who doesn't enjoy some slapstick every now and then, and Kevin James once again plays the lovable guy who's to shy to get the girl (so basically the same guy he played in Paul Blart) but he is very good at it, so in the end it's a movie with flaws but still enjoyable one for the family to watch together.… Expand
  4. Shiira
    Aug 19, 2011
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The gorilla sits in front of a wall, stoically, without movement or sound, never turning once while Griffin tries to befriend the large ape with fresh food and a tire. At the Franklin Zoo, Bernie has a reputation for being wild. Ten years ago, he attacked a zookeeper, so the authorities took away his view. No longer showcased as a star attraction, Bernie resides in a cell-like pit where the dispirited animal has been brooding ever since. If only the gorilla could have told his side of the story. Unfortunately, zoo officials had nothing to go on except for the testimony of its lone English speaker, so they leveled Bernie's open-aired home, the one that overlooked a faraway T.G.I.F., and replaced it with a food stand. What would the beast say in his defense? Finally, that time arrives when the animals, fearing the departure of the kindly zookeeper, reveal their bilinguality to Griffin, whose staying is contingent on wooing back his ex. With the moratorium lifted, following the lion's lead on talking to humans, Bernie recounts his physical abuse at the hands of Shane, who slipped and fell without any malice on the gorilla's part. The unkind zookeeper carried a longstick. What if he did more than prod Bernie? Sworn to a code of silence, the hirsute beast wouldn't be able to stop Shane with words. Foremost, the word NO. Aside from, perhaps, "Babe", rarely has there been any reason for a live-action talking animals movie to exist. Giraffes, monkey, lions, what have you, just end up looking ridiculous, and kind of creepy, when they're subjected to computer-generated ventriloquism. That's the irony of "Zoo", the 2007 documentary about an extreme horse lover society which came to light after a man died of fatal post-coital injuries sustained from interspecies intimacy. As the female narrator points out, a horse can't give its consent, lacking both the cognitive ability, and, obviously, speech, to do so. If only life could only imitate the banal cinematic art, just this one time, for clarification purposes, since the filmmaker reserves judgment on the question of whether these sex mavericks are moral or not. The audience needs to hear it from the horse's mouth, concerning the reciprocation of romantic love, in a language they can understand. That's because the men of "Zoo" have cultivated the fantasy in which horses yearn to be their b*tches; to be human, making the zoophiles guilty of the same anthropomorphism we see at the movies, even in the non-talking ones. Similar to the flightless Antarctic birds from "March of the Penguins", the men project onto the horses, the very attributes which make us human, with the slight difference being that in "Zoo", it's the subject, not the filmmaker, who shapes the rhetoric. Identified simply as "H.", the ranch hand insists that "you're connecting with another intelligent being who's happy to be involved," uncannily echoing the sentiments of a child molester who mistakes hubris for compassion. (Both horse and child have no say in the arrangement.) We need "Zoo" to be a talking animals movie, because who is the horse going to tell, but other horses, about the abuse or lack thereof. In the book "The Reality Effect: Film Culture and the Graphic Imperative", a meditation on our first filmed century, cultural critic Joel Black writes about sex, or rather, the suggestion of sex, in classic cinema, where the screen would fade out just as the two lovers get set to consummate their love. Like "Casablanca", the filmmaker leaves it up to the moviegoer's imagination, in regard to the specifics of the deceased man and the stallion, rendezvouing by moonlight inside the hippodrome. Show the unshowable, and the f*cked-up romanticism would be lost, not so dissimilar to the way hardcore pornography would destroy the idealized love between Rick and Ilsa, with sex's literality and utter visceralness. In "Zookeeper", Bernie's story is mitigated by the omission of a flashback, a psychical diegesis, which gives the gorilla the subjective means to bowdlerize his victim narrative, therefore regulating the comedy genre by sublimating orifices into metaphor: he wants to drive(the car key penetrating the ignition), indicating a need for control. (In "Congo", Amy shows no such perversion, choosing her own kind at the end.) As Bernie slow-dances with a T.G.I.F. waitress, zoophilia, the moviegoer realizes with a start, can work both ways. The animals want it too. Stephanie is objectified by the wildlife, since she's the focal point in their animal minds, projecting their essence onto Griffin, whom they live vicariously through, and vice versa, when the "manimal" pees into a potted plant at a wedding, marking his territory like a wolf. Is it just a coincidence that Rosario Dawson, who starred in "Clerks 2"(another film that prominently features beastiality), plays, in essence, the same role, the best friend that the leading man ends up with?… Expand
  5. Akkhar
    Dec 10, 2011
    3
    Zookeeper is the "Yogi Bear" of 2011 . With a damaged and unfunny script Zookeeper is just so dull . Keven is better then this . Its not that boring but its not funny and entertaining. There were whole brunch of ideas to make it good but they just ruined it . The only good moment in this film was T.G.I. Friday with Kevin and Gorilla . The whole segment was good . If that whole movie had that much vibe i would like that .… Expand
  6. Knicksfan7
    Jul 13, 2011
    5
    Im going to be completely honest and say i enjoyed this movie. Dont get me wrong it wasnt the best film ever but it was enjoyable. You have to be in a very tolerant or open mood in order to enjoy yourself during this movie. If you go in expecting it to be really good then you will be disappointed but i enjoyed it. It had its flaws like some pretty bad acting from everybody but kevin james, the animations for the animals were pretty bad also, and the giraffe was really annoying, but i love kevin james and his comedy so that made up for the flaws a bit, but it was enjoyable as long as you go into it with an open mind and dont expect much, but it was a cute, fun film. 5/10… Expand
  7. Kadeemluvmusic
    Aug 25, 2011
    3
    This isn't what talking animal movies are all about. As an excuse for being a Dr. Dolittle rip-off, sure the movie is Zookeeper. But Kevin James was a big stud when he played Paul Blart Mall Cop and the movie was absolutely funny. For the sad part, I couldn't find a Zookeeper around here. Maybe he's trying to steal jewelry or make a bad impression of an Eddie Murphy wannabe. But I like to be said that Zookeeper is one of the worst talking animal movie of 2011.… Expand
  8. scrieciu
    Jul 15, 2011
    3
    Where can I start. There's not a lot of things to say about this movie. Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The story concept is very unoriginal. Everything about this movie is cliche. Talking animals is so ten years ago. We already have '' Doctor Dolittle '' (1998), '' Cats & Dogs '' (2001) and more. These kind of movies are not popular anymore and people are getting bored by this. Also, I specifically want to point out Joe Rogan. His acting skills sucks. Why the heck did they casted him ? He really annoyed me. An other thing that I didn't like is the way Adam Sandler did the voice of Donald the Monkey. It was just stupid and retarded. He tried so hard, that it was ridiculous. I can't believe Sylvester Stallone (as Joe the lion) and Nick Nolte (as Bernie the gorilla) were apart of this movie. They should be a shamed of them self. At some points it was enjoyable, but it was to predicable. There's absolutely nothing special about '' Zookeeper ''. I manage to laugh four times, so don't expect this to be the comedy of the year. It's far from it.… Expand
  9. Moviebuffreview
    Aug 1, 2011
    1
    There really isn't a lot to say about this movie. Besides Kevin James, who makes the movie slightly watchable, is the only sunshine in this awful dark cave. Uninspired, cliche, and laughably bad script topped with some horrible and annoying performances, bad effects, and most of all, a pointless message, and Zookeeper is one of the worst movies of the year. The trailer perfectly sums up how bad this movie is. Don't watch it!… Expand
  10. AtTheMovies
    Aug 9, 2011
    0
    Looks like there is a front funner for the Razzie's already.
  11. NJWolfgang
    Oct 24, 2011
    0
    I watched this because I enjoy Kevin James. The screenplay is just awful and there is nothing in it that even allows James to truly showcase his ability to be funny. The gags which could have been funny even though they are so dated fell flat and in some cases were painful to watch. When I realized that Adam Sandler was involved in this project I thought it could be fun but even that didn't help. I can't even imagine children finding this remotely amusing unless they were under the age of five.… Expand
  12. movieboy
    Jul 10, 2011
    1
    This is so bad. The animal dialogue is painfully unfunny. I laughed out loud once in the movie, my 11year old laughed twice. Starting to wonder if Sandler can be involved with a movie that's actually funny. Kevin James is OK in his part which is not saying much. One scene has him - taking advice from his animal pals - peeing in some plants at a restaurant and being mildly reprimanded by a waiter. That's funny?
    Now I hear some of the animals were not treated well. Nice.    … Expand
  13. Edward9630
    Aug 3, 2011
    5
    Zookeeper was an alright film. The story was a bit interesting and there were some funny moments in the film. The problems I had with the film is some scenes are just retarded that a normal human being wouldn't do, Kevin James character we've seen in other films before and the character follows animals advice in relationship when animals and human are different and why would he even follow their advice. Overall kids would probably enjoy this but for adults not so much. I would recommend this film to be a rental.… Expand
  14. moviemonger
    Jul 30, 2011
    0
    One of the most unforgiving reviews is one where the statement "totally miscast" is thrown into the ring. This movie is so bad that voice-overs are miscast. The gorilla in this movie could have been pulled from a Three Stooges sketch, warranting a 4 year old screaming from his theater seat, "Is that grandpa in that Gorilla Suit?!" None of the voices are memorable - most annoying. The last time I saw so many trips, falls, and unintentional, intentional, accidents I was watching TV Land and Cindy was overacting on yet another episode of "Three's Company". Kevin James is easily the highpoint of this movie - high as in "knee-high to a grasshopper".… Expand
  15. Nick5414
    Oct 4, 2011
    0
    Incredibly unfunny.
  16. Ironmonger
    Jul 18, 2011
    8
    You could say that this movie is corny, terrible, not well done... but those people just don't see the point of the movie. This movie was a classic, but probably not like polar express classic. It reminded me a lot of Paul Blart mall cop (since the same guy played the lead role). The movie lived up to the hype, but didn't exceed it. The moral of the movie was about a man being true to himself and his friends. To me, it was a combination of night at the museum (due to the fact that something really unexpected seemed to come to life) and Paul Blart Maul Cop (for both plot and commedy). If you liked both of those movies, see the movie once. It may be a little corney, but it is a very good family friendly movie. The people who don't like this movie don't think about what is happening. They just see "bad anamatronics" and "corney plot". If you look deeper, you'll see it is a funny family friendly movie that was very creative and worth seeing the first time. Maybe in a year, you'll see it again for laughs.… Expand
  17. Darkstarshades
    Aug 12, 2011
    0
    Didn't laughed at all, really hated it, felt offended and wanted to leave, a group of children below me were falling asleep, please note that this movie is very much like that of the night in the Musseum, or whathever, that stuff, haha.
  18. EPIXMAN15
    Jan 23, 2012
    10
    Kevin James barley made this movie watchable and the weird thing is that it seems like Adam Sandler is like a bad luck charm because almost all movies that he is involved in are all epic fails like Bucky Larson which should have ended his career just for being involved. Well the movie is dumb and lame it's a darn shame that James and Adams cant make a good movie like I Pronounce you chuck and Larry which I didn't even find remotely bad despite it's awful reviews… Expand
  19. Booleanflix
    Sep 10, 2011
    3
    Griffin, a committed zookeeper, proposes to his girlfriend, Stephanie, on a beach. Sadly, it did not go to plan since she was ashamed of being with a zookeeper. 5 years later, Griffin sets his mind only on his career and the animals, but Stephanie returns in the attempt to gain Griffinâ
  20. BenIsThisGuy
    Aug 2, 2011
    1
    Awful movie because I could not keep focus and so slow it was almost pointless to watch. I would not even watch this for free if I could watch it again.
  21. Egypt1am
    Aug 20, 2011
    0
    I went to see planet of the apes and they accidentally started The Zookeeper, we got 3 minutes of it before they switched the tapes, it nearly killed me!!!! No thanks
  22. ReviewZone212
    Feb 2, 2013
    1
    This movie isn't funny, it just feels like a rushed comedy, if ur kids want to watch it, then go and waste ur money, otherwise, you should not give a about this movie.
  23. rish
    Sep 11, 2011
    9
    Zookeeper is a great family comedy movie. It's very easy to understand and I'd recommend this movie to anyone who likes comedy.it's also pretty cute that the animals talk and I feel sorry about the hurt gorilla.
  24. MusicMovesMe
    Aug 29, 2011
    5
    I gave this movie a five because the previews appear to be targeting adult audiences with the romance plot line.
    However, I felt this movie would have been more appropriate for a younger audience. Dr Dolittle has been done before, and talking animals should remain with Disney.
  25. SmileyJamm
    Oct 16, 2011
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ah... man. This plot is stupid. The comedy part is somewhat funny but the plot is rather stupid all it is a guy trying to get a girl thats it. The kids will like the movie but you will find the movie stupid and the plot dumb..… Expand
  26. andyeddy8
    Jul 22, 2011
    1
    This is just an awful film. Did not laugh through the entire movie. Its incredibly predictable. the acting and voice acting is also really bad. Do not watch it! Its a real shame that Kevin James has gone so low :(.
  27. MichiganMan
    Aug 10, 2011
    7
    In summary: a pleasant way to spend 2 hours with the kids.

    I took my kids (6 year old boy, 9 year old girl) to see Zookeeper, and all three of us came away entertained. Kevin James plays essentially the same role in all his films (Paul Blart, Hitch), the lovable loser too shy and awkward to get the girl. But, he plays the part well, has charisma, and does some excellent physical / sl    apstick comedy.

    The kids loved the talking animals, the humor was good for all ages, and there is nothing offensive beyond some toilet humor. All in all it was a solid family flick that was low on the annoyance factor (think Chipmunks or Smurfs). If you're looking for "A Film", you're in the wrong theatre; if you want a pleasant way to spend 2 hours with the kids, you could worse than Zookeeper.    … Expand
  28. moviefloss
    Jul 10, 2011
    3
    This movie has an array of actors that lend their voices to make this a silly but semi-enjoyable movie. It starts off by introducing Griffin (Kevin James), the Lead Zookeeper who works at the Boston zoo, and wants to win back the love of his life. In fear of losing their most loving Zookeeper, all the zoo animals come together to plot a plan on keeping him around.

    This movie will entertai    n kids of all ages as they will fall in love with all the zoo animals. There is such a wide variety of cute cuddly live animals to incredible CGI ones. I especially liked the bears, they became my favorite of the bunch due to their quirky dismay. I wasnâ… Expand
  29. TacoPieOverlord
    Sep 4, 2011
    0
    i think this thing is stupid it isnt worth money theres no good comedy and it is with talking animals wow ive never seen talking animals did you pick up on my sarcasm i hate this i hope you do too
  30. aflynn
    Oct 11, 2011
    10
    I loved this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!It was hilarious.Great cast.You don't see movies like this very often.Reminds me of Furry Vengeance.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
30 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 29
  3. Negative: 15 out of 29
  1. Empire
    Reviewed by: Nick de Semlyen
    Jul 25, 2011
    40
    Some sparks of comedy and fun but largely a flat and unrewarding comedy.
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  2. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    Jul 16, 2011
    30
    The best thing I can say about this sleep-inducing kiddie comedy is that the need to bring in a PG rating must have precluded the endless series of giant-turd gags promised by the title.
    Read full review
  3. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Matt Singer
    Jul 12, 2011
    20
    Fans of the spectacle of Kevin James falling over (nine times in 104 minutes!) and shockingly brazen product placement ("Is T.G.I. Friday's as incredible as it looks?") may dig this deranged comedy; everyone else will be scratching their heads.
    Read full review
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