Well into the story of Space Chimps, one of the eponymous primates, a stuffed-shirt, by-the-book, NASA-trained chimp named Titan, expresses his doubts about whether a makeshift spaceship rigged together from a planetary rover by three apes and a host of primitive aliens can really make it back to earth. Our protagonist’s glib reply: don’t overthink this. That may be Space Chimps defining moment; if you can avoid overthinking it, this movie’s third-rate animation and first-rate casting make for an enjoyable diversion.

It’s accurate, but not entirely damning, to describe Space Chimp’s animation as third-rate. No one’s going to confuse this for Pixar, but then there’s no one else near Pixar’s level. And this movie doesn’t match the fairly impressive visuals that Dreamworks-SKG put into it’s summer release, Kung-Fu Panda, either. But it’s not horrible. Space Chimps was made by Vanguard Animation, the same studio that brought us the similarly third-rate Valiant and Happily N’Ever After. Compared to other non-Pixar, non-Dreamworks animated features, the artwork is adequate.

The casting, however, is top-notch. The three main chimps are voiced by Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines and Patrick Warburton, with Stanley Tucci, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenowith, and Jane Lynch also in key roles. Not bad. The script is a solid B-effort—provided, of course, that you don’t overthink. The jokes come at a steady pace, sprinkled with the requisite pop-culture/sci-fi references, with the double entendres limited to acceptable minimum. Thankfully, the movie’s running time feels just about right. And Space Chimps‘ tone is light and doesn’t beat you down with any heavy-handed pop-psychological or environmental (Happy Feet, I’m looking at you) sermonizing.

The premise revolves around the appearance of a wormhole just beyond the lunar orbit and transports objects to a planet across the galaxy inhabited by strange, day-glo beings (think Boobah or Yo Gabba Gabba!, only less psychotic). Wary of sending humans, NASA decides to launch some chimps (descendants of the original pioneering primates) as part of a test mission. A slacker protagonist redeems himself while teaches others to lighten up, etc., etc. Zaniness ensues. There’s nothing profound or particularly insightful here—thank goodness; there’s also nothing inappropriate for even the youngest child in this G-Rated movie.

It’s hard to say how Space Chimps will do when it opens this weekend. Fox has been running promos for it on Nickelodeon almost non-stop. But it’s one of several kids’ movies released this summer, and seems likely to generate a lot less interest than Wall-E or Kung Fu Panda. This is probably a film that does better on home DVD than in the theaters. On the other hand, if parents are looking for something to take their kids to, this should cause a lot fewer nightmares than The Dark Knight or Mamma Mia!.