DVD Review: Zookeeper

Former King Of Queens star Kevin James has been working on his “family-friendly” image for quite some time now, and with Zookeeper it really pays off. James plays Griffin Keyes, a man stone in love with Stephanie (Leslie Bibb), who does not quite share his enthusiasm for matrimony. As a matter of fact, she breaks his heart when he proposes.

Fast-forward five years, and Griffin is the beloved zookeeper of the Franklin Park Zoo. All of the animals love him, because he takes such good care of them. They care for him so much in fact, that they decide to drop their vows of silence and talk to him to give him advice as to how to get his girlfriend back.

The animals mean well, but some of their schemes just don’t add up in the human world. Griffin certainly appreciates their help, and even takes Bernie (Nick Nolte) the gorilla out for dinner at TGI Fridays. When the animals all put their minds together to help their friend Griffin out, they come up with some good ideas though. One is that since Stephanie is dating her ex-boyfriend Gale (Joe Rogan). The animals convince Griffin to take out fellow zookeeper Kate (Rosario Dawson).

Even though this plan actually does seem to work, as Stephanie comes back to Griffin after seeing him out on a date with another woman, the two never really were meant for each other. Soon she has him selling cars at a high-end shop, and living a life he does not like at all. It does not take him long to realize that his “friend” Kate is much more suited to him.

Zookeeper is a fine family film, and contains the voice talents of a number of big name stars. These include, Cher, Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, and Sylvester Stallone, among others. Bonus features include a blooper reel, and a backstage feature showing how the talking animal bits were created. As part of the Blu Ray combo pack, the BR edition also contains a playable PlayStation 3 game demo of the new Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One.

Zookeeper is definite fun for the whole family, with a lot of extras to boot.