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PLOT: An inquisitive monkey stows away on a ship from Africa to the big city, only to wreak havoc on the life of the Man in the Yellow Hat. But once all the highjinks are done, George will have a hand in saving the day.
Curious George is a throwback to a kinder and simpler time in 'toondom, when animated films didn't require CGI wizardry, riffs on pop culture and maniacal talking animals to keep youngsters' eyeballs on the screen.
The lesson learned: Careful what you wish for.
Director Matthew O'Callaghan's adaptation of Margaret and H. A. Rey's beloved children's books could not be any more safe or inoffensive. But one man's harmless is another man's bland, and after you scratch the primary-coloured surface of this well-meaning movie, there's not much underneath.
Will Ferrell voices Ted, the Man in the Yellow Hat. The swaggering, pipe-smoking adventurer from the books, who set off to Africa to capture a frightened George against his will, has been softened into a dorky anthropology geek who gets duped into buying his trademark banana-hued ensemble.
And George isn't caught, he simply stows away when Ted returns from an unsuccessful quest for a giant idol that could keep his museum from being turned into a parking lot by the owner's greedy son, voiced by David Cross. Ho-hum.
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But, man, is the monkey freakin' cute. Praise be to Universal for not having George talk, other than cooing and eek-ing in Monkeylish. While he's far more fleshed out than the crude cartoon with the pencil-dot eyes from the books, he's still a perfect blend of impish primate and mischievous child.
The movie is at its best when George is up to his button nose in trouble, be it getting into cans of paint in a matron's penthouse apartment -- one of the few vignettes drawn from the books -- or riding across the sky with a bunch of helium balloons, to the accompaniment of a sweet Jack Johnson tune.
The story, such as it is, revolves around a misunderstanding about the size of the legendary idol that Ted has brought back, a frisky schoolteacher (Drew Barrymore) who can't seem to get her dorky paramour to clue in to her intentions and a stern Russian superintendent (Ed O'Ross) who kicks Ted out on his saffron butt for having a pet in the apartment.
It's all very humble and by-the-numbers and, despite the unnecessary addition of robots and cellphones and holograms and insidious product placements for a brand of banana and a car manufacturer, quite old-fashioned.
Younger kids will probably love George's slapstick antics, but adults hoping for wink-wink jokes working on another level may well be bored into oblivion.
But, hey, at least there's no wisecracking donkey. For better or for worse.
BOTTOM LINE: Sweet, cute and a little dull, Curious George is so harmless it makes cotton candy look menacing.
(This film is rated G)