Stepping out into a marketplace bulging with quality of late (Horton Hears A Who, Wall-E), Space Chimps has its works cut out for it. With a steady processional of genuinely funny post-modern gags that don't stroke the gag reflex like Shrek did, paired with elegant animation, it should lift off with young families.

The story follows circus chimp Ham III, who is reminiscent of a simian Andy Roddick in his incorrigible wise-cracking and rascally charisma. Ham III is the grandson of the first chimp to burst through the stratosphere, and with that sort of pedigree he should be more than cannon fodder at the local big top. Fortunately the US Space team has a spot for him, and - in a bit of plot moving mumbo-jumbo - he gets enlisted with two other simians to blast off, and perhaps live up to his lineage. On a fiendishly difficult mission the primate crew will be charged with combing a particularly gnarly wormhole en route to fending off an intergalactic dictator named Zartog (Jeff Daniels, having a lot of fun in the sound booth).

Films of the fantasy ilk can be bolstered or sunk by their minor characters (think Jar Jar Binks), so it's worth noting that Space Chimps has a handful of endearing minor characters at its disposal, including the literally luminous Kilowatt, who wears her excitement on her skin. While the script is sometimes a mlange of nods to films like 2001 and Star Wars, there is genuine sparkle in the voice work and more than a few jokes that really do hit the sweet spot. If ultimately a little safe in its brand of intertextual humour, the inspired silliness of Space Chimps has mostly got the right stuff.

Get more on BigPond TV:
View the trailer