Are humans animals?

I never saw one minute of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", until this assignment. When I read the follow up question connecting technology, violence and what it means to be "human", I imagined a 1968 view of what warfare would be like in the year 2001. When a group of monkeys came on the scene, I was completely taken aback. Was Stanley Kubrick trying to depict humans as a species of monkeys? I know that according to the theory of evolution, humans are supposed to have evoloved from monkeys, however I firmly believe that humans are not related to monkeys, or to any animal. We may be categorized as mammels, but we are not animals. We have the ability to think, analyze, conceptualize, ask questions. All animals have are instincts to survive. Humans have feelings, animals don't.
The monkeys in the movie couldn't ask question or try to understand what this unfamiliar object was in their midst. All they could do was scream and make sure it would do them no harm. All they have is the instinct of survival. Humans would not only want to make sure it would do them no harm, but also try to understand how they can utilize it for their benefit.
Humans also use new technology for violence. People are always trying to figure out the newest way to kill the most people the most effective way. Technology definitely has an effect on violence nd the expression of violence, but the way Stanley Kubrick tried to connect technology and violence to what it means to be "human", I don't agree with. I don't think humans can be compared to monkeys. I honestly don't understand what Kubrick was trying to depict with the monkey who was banging with bones, but all the monkey was doing was making a mess.