Akiko the Flying Monkey: Fun for All the Family (Children's International Film Festival 2025)
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Date Reviewed: 30/05/2025
Akiko the Flying Monkey is a family-friendly film that will delight and enchant children of all ages and adults, too. The film was released in 2024 and is in German. The story centres around a monkey at a zoo who often leaves his cage to visit the other animals. One day, he is caught by his attendants and put in a stronger enclosure. A young boy with a remote-controlled airplane visits the zoo and flies his plane. The plane lands in Akiko's enclosure. Akiko boards the plane and flies off towards the forest, where he can reunite with his relatives to help free the other monkeys and animals enclosed in the zoo. Akiko embarks on a journey that involves various animals helping him along his adventure.
The film is populated with talking animals that draw you into the story. The film is engrossing and entertaining. The production values are of excellent quality. From the sets to the decor, the music and the costumes, all aspects are on point. Written, produced, and directed by Veit Helmer, this film shows us the ugliness of having animals in captivity away from their natural surroundings. It is not only a children's film, but the script also provides a thoughtful allegory on animals in cages.
The cinematography in the film is amazing. You will marvel at how life-like the talking animals are in the production. All of the voice actors and actual actors in the film have done a superb job. The story would never happen, but all of the elements of the film make you believe that this would be possible. The animals and actors often break into song, as this is a musical as well. And the songs are lovely. One of the best songs in the film is "Fly High, Akiko."
The only issue I have with the film is that since it is in German, younger viewers might not be able to read the subtitles, but if the film were dubbed, then this would not be a problem. Overall, a fantastic film that will not disappoint viewers. Akiko the Flying Monkey was better than I expected it would be. I would give this film five out of five stars.