Chimpanzee review

Nowhere near as scarring as Project Nim (thank god), Chimpanzee is a stunning, at times harrowing look at the life of a young chimp named Oscar and his troop of berry-chomping primates.

Directed by Earth ’s Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, using state-of-the-art equipment that puts your nose to the action, it further benefits from a dramatic arc that develops when a fierce battle with a neighbouring troop leads to the disappearance of Oscar’s mother.

Narrated with surprising restraint by Tim Allen (he does, however, throw in a few obligatory ‘Tool Time’ grunts), Chimpanzee intermittently veers into Disney-esque cheese – seriously, a ‘bad’ monkey named Scar? – but is otherwise a delight.