Planet of the Apes

Rating:
Summary: Not Worth the Money
Review: I went to the movies to see the Planet of Apes just to see what the hype was all about. Well after sitting their and enduring the whole movie I was totally disgusted with the ending. How in the world did he go back to the past only to find the apes had taken over? And when he kissed the ape chick that was totally nasty....ewwww Mark Whalberg!!!!

If you like Sci-fi then you might consider this movie...if you don't then SAVE THE MONEY!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Missed Opportunity
Review: I believe the original 1968 version of "The Planet of the Apes" was the first time I realized that a film might actually be something more than an escapist entertainment. In fact, it might have something important and relevant to say to its audience. Indeed, that first film seemed to have something to say on a wide variety of topics: race relations, bigotry, vivisection, free thinking within an oppressive society as well as humanity's place in the universe. It made these points by using ironic twists, gentle humor and downright scathing satire; all wrapped within the context of an exciting sci-fi adventure story. The result was a classic piece of film making. An almost instant icon of 20th century pop culture that eventually spawned four sequels and even a short lived TV series.

So, when I heard that 20th Century Fox wanted to do a "re-imagining" of POTA my first thought was "Why?". Hadn't the first film gotten everything right the first time around? Why monkey (no pun intended) with something that was pretty much perfect already? Then I heard that Tim Burton had been assingned to direct and I thought that here was an ideal choice if you were going to re-imagine something as iconic as POTA. After all, he had done a marvelous job of revamping the image of Batman from that of the ridiculously campy to that of the more respectible avenging Dark Knight (only to have Joel Schumaker undermine all of that with "Batman and Robin"). While a re-imaging of POTA wasn't needed, I thought, it still might be interesting to see the results of such an undertaking from the capable hands of a director like Burton. Unfortunately the final product failed to meet my expectations.

The biggest dissapointment here is the script, no real plot and flat, one dimensional characters ... The social commentary, so important to the original, is almost completely lacking here. Early on in the story there are some token nods to racism and human vs animal rights but then the writers never develop them. ... The characters, especially the human ones, are hardly worth caring about. Leo, the lost astronaut (Mark Wahlberg), seems to just wander around through the film in a catatonic trance; never even aware of the romantic interest of the human female (Estella Warren) or that of the chimp female Ari (Helena Bonham Carter). The film makes it obvious the two are interested in Leo but, again, fail to develop it into anything. This movie wants to get up and go but is eventually left spinning its wheels aimlessly for two hours.

However, its not all bad. There are some things that make this film worth viewing. One, is Burton's visuals. Burton is first and foremost a visual director. In other words, the look of the film seems to take precedence over everything else. Unfortunately that's the case here. The script [is poor] but the film itself looks gorgeous. I particularly loved the shots of Ape City built into the huge and forbidding rocky crag, also the views of the long marching columns of the ape army at night. Also, the forest that surrounds the city is one of those typically beautiful but scary Burtonesque fairy tale type affairs. My favorite aspect to this film is Rick Baker's incredible ape make-up. These are simply incredible designs that obviously had a lot of work put into them. If Baker doesn't win an Oscar for his efforts there is simply no justice in the world. Another good thing going for this film is the quality of the performances which for the most part are quite good. In particular Tim Roth as the violently tempered chimp General Thade and Helena Bonham Carter as the female chimp Ari who sympathizes with the plight of the humans. There is also good comic relief in the form of the Orangutan vender of humans played by Paul Giamatti. And Michael Duncan Clarke is an imposing Colonel Attar. I also have to make mention of Charlton Heston's brief cameo as Thade's dying father. In one of the films few good ironic moments Heston's character introduces the concept of guns into the story. Thade's Daddy has been hiding the fact that humans at one time had such dangerous weapons (apparently apes have never developed firearms) and reveals the secret to his son before he kicks the bucket. Finally, mention must be made of Danny Elfman's wonderful score; a nice blending of Jerry Goldsmith's atonal, primitive sounds that worked so well for the original film with that of a full orchestra. I may or may not get the DVD but I will certainly add the soundtrack to my collection.

Ultimately I found this "re-imagining" of POTA a disappointment. There are occaisional moments where this film shows that it has the potential to achieve so much but then turns around and squanders it. When will Hollywood learn that cool visuals and great looking make-up are not enough to make an excellent or even a good movie?

Rating:
Summary: I doubt you'll want to see this remake...let alone buy it
Review: Let me just make this clear: after I saw this highly anticipated movie (what I thought may well turn out to be the best of the summer), I was very careful in seeing Hollywood movies, sifting through the mass release of them to attend an unusually miniscule number. After watching countless Planet trailers in awe and persistently checking up on a release date, barely containing the will to see Tim Burton's recreation of a classic with a stellar cast, including Mark Wahlberg (thank god he redeems his Boogie Nights/Three Kings talent and glory in Rock Star!), Michael Clarke Duncan, Helena Bonham Carter (I don't know what this quality English actress from Fight Club is doing here), and Tim Roth (I can't explain why this awesome Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction star is here either), there would have to be some mammoth-sized faults to make me not like this one. And guess what? There were no obvious faults if you discount the absurd ending. Instead, there were very simply, no successes (whatsoever!). The movie's actual logline might go something like this: "Hero ventures to foreign planet to discover humans are slaves to a race of apes. He must use wits and strength to wage war on the merciless ape regime to save himself and the world of humans." That's great, and probably pleasantly accurate for the original Charlton Heston movie; but for my logline of the movie, I must sacrifice tact to give you better accuracy: "Guy gets trapped on planet full of primates not worth visualizing, where he meets bimbo model without dialogue and ape-woman that he has sexual feelings for. Movie concentrates on...never mind, it's just a load of [junk]...go see something else." Oh, and the ending makes no sense, so don't try to be clever about figuring it out. Yeah, that's about it for this one.

Rating:
Summary: 28 hours of extra footage
Review: That's what I read about it. I am so there. This is by far one of the best special effects movies I have seen in a long time. And this director is really into making beautiful movies. The apes look very real, as does the planet that they are on. All of the little details in this film like the way they jump around and their expressions are so well thought-out. The storyline is nothing new, really, from the original series, but this is much less campy and better produced. I am really excited for the extra DVD with the insider perspective on making Planet of the Apes. I'm interested in the navigation features, and especially anything on the concept art for the apes, prototypes, etc. The five-star rating is based on my theater experience (loved it!), and the listed offerings on the DVD set.

Rating:
Summary: 'PLANET OF THE APES' missed the jungle gym...
Review: Don't get me wrong. I LOVE TIM BURTON! And was I ever excited to see his latest, the reimagining of "Planet of the Apes". And was I ever disappointed by the credits.

First, this seems like a production that took some wrong turns to begin with, but also made some right turns as well. Rick Baker's Oscar-worthy ape makeup was spectacular, again! Tim Burton's direction was quite good, some of the battle scenes and sets were well done! But next to that, there seems to be more mediocre or bad than good. One of the "wrong turns" was the script, penned by the same guys who wrote the script for "Mighty Joe Young"...yeah, you get the idea... The dialogue was chliche, it didn't sink in to keep my captivated. There was a strong lack of depth to the movie that the original "Apes" exhibited quite nicely. Tim Burton only makes movies whose scripts he cares about, but there was some characteristics of Burton's movies that were definitely missing as far as the artistic aspects of the movie are concerned. I only picked up on several, one of them the very Burtonesque scarecrows in the Forbidden Zone.
The ending wasn't bad, but wasn't great either. I wasn't too taken back.

In short, Burton should stick to the formula that works where he has artistic control, but also control over the script (plot, dialogue, etc.). Burton, Baker, and Elfman are definitely a team here, but "Planet of the Apes" seems a slight waste of Burton's immense talent and gift for filmmaking.

Rating:
Summary: Plznet Of The Apes
Review: I have avoided seeing Tim Burton Movies in the past but this one I enjoyed. It was not his usual fare ie Macabre. I heard that Charlton Heston was going to be in the movie but was surprised to see that he was a chimpanzee. How ironic that he played a character in this movie that he learned to hate so much in the original. this movie was very well acted. Especially theChimpanzee. The make up is as good or better that the original considering what they had to work with thirty yeasrs ago. I reccomend this movie to any POTA fan or Sci-Fi fan.

Rating:
Summary: A Visual Feast!: Burton's Revisiting of a Legend.
Review: Here are some thoughts after dissecting the re-imagining version of Planet of the Apes by Tim Burton:

Story. Overall, I think it is an interesting plot, specially the events around "Calima" and the origins of the Ape Culture. The space sequences are also well done. Probably the interest tends to drag down in the middle part of the film where there seems to be too many "action escape scenes". The ending twist should not surprise Planet of the Apes connoisseurs as this is more or less the conclusion in Pierre Boulle's original 1963 novel.

Screenplay. A common disease in Science Fiction films are poor screenplays. Planet of the Apes (2001) is no exception. Indeed the exception was the brilliant 1968 one written by those 2 Hollywood legends: Michael Wilson and Rod Serling. The lines and development of the story for the 2001 version do have some nice and witty "references" to the past series but overall lack in character development and intelligent dialogue, which never rises to more than average writing. And finally, yes...that "Aspirin" line is cheap and out of place.

Direction. Well, It's Tim Burton and that says a lot. It's original and controversial, probably not as dark as other of Burton's efforts, but still the style is highly discernible in the whole movie. Considering the weakness of the screenplay he was given, Burton relied in a very capable group of actors to bring up a polished execution. He consistently emphasizes violence, but in my opinion always having in mind the idea of making the Apes more credible (Thade's kind of "Matrix" jumps seems too much, but after all he is not a common ape, isn't he?). Also, the visions we are given of the "ape society" are particularly successful, creating a sense of deepness that are well supported by the details given of Ape Mythology.
It was also a nice point that Burton tried to build a very personal version but with some identifiable bridge with the past series, thus he writes:

"Planet of the Apes is a truly original, a modern-day fairy tale... The most challenging aspect of creating this new film was to be completely respectful of the mythology of the original, while adding new characters and story elements".

Editing. I sensed too many rough cuts. How many footage was left out to make the film timely commercial?. This is a recurrent topic, specially in action films (and specifically in Science Fiction ones), so we could expect that there were valuable scenes deleted that would have helped in developing better some characters and their relationships (Leo, Daena, Ari, Karubi, etc.). We hope to have some answers when the DVD version is issued, as they usually include deleted scenes.

Actors. Most "Ape" actors did a brilliant job, specially the aggressive chimpanzee Tim Roth (Thade), the loyal gorillas Michael Clarke Duncan (Attar) and Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa (Krull) and, of course the hilarious Orangutan Paul Giamatti (Limbo). Helena Bonham Carter (Ari) is not bad but far from the unforgettable Zira (Kim Hunter who was on the first 3 films of the 60's and 70's series). Mark Wahlberg (Leo) is just the typical American space cowboy, but again, the script doesn't help him much to do something more creative. Question marks for Estella Warren (Daena) and Kris Kristofferson (Karubi) as both seem only to be advertising pieces for the film. By the way, it was nice to watch Charlton Heston (now as an Ape!: Thade's Father) and Linda Harrison (the mute "Nova" in the original first 2 films makes now a small appearance as one of the caged women in the initial hunt...and yes, she is still mute!).

Music. Danny Elfman has managed to continue successfully the great tradition of excellent music written for "Planet of the Apes" films. Before him, Jerry Goldsmith, Leonard Rosenman and Tom Scott composed beautiful, strange and original scores. Now, Elfman does nothing less with music that has a highly dramatic content, a very attractive orchestration (paying in some instances a tribute to the original percussive score by Goldsmith!), and even some nice melodic moments. Two Thumbs Up for Mr. Elfman, on my opinion his best work to date.

Make-Up. The new Planet of the Apes epic is another triumph for Rick Baker, the man behind many myths (Star Wars, American Werewolf in London, Gorillas in the Mist, Men in Black, and many many etceteras). Each Ape has his own personality beautifully done. His make-up nicely permitted actors to be able to express their emotions. Baker has done a grand tribute to John Chamber's famed make-up for the original series.

Costumes / Sets. I think that the film is very successful on both elements. It is impressive the color and variety of costumes which, keeping up with the make-up, are very personal for the different apes. Ape City is beautifully constructed, "Calima" is majestic and mysterious, while the space scenes have a pleasant style.

Summary, an impressive visual feast with an interesting story but an unfortunate script.

Rating:
Summary: For Those Who Didn't Get the Ending
Review: They did not return to the past, however, upon their return to EARTH, they discover that they apes took over HERE as well! The original story did not involve 'time travel' that was only in the '68 sci fi classic. In the original story they actually went to a Planet of the Apes, not earth. However, upon their return... one of the best surprise endings in literature. And actually, the surprise ending in the '68 movie was pretty good too - you could say this surprise ending works just as well with distance as it does with time, as long as the surprise is this happens on earth (unless you're still thinking they went through time!).

This is our future, our universal future (on every world in the universe!) - the descent of man and the rise of apes.

Dare I say recent events make Pierre Boulle's classic even more prophetic than usual?

Rating:
Summary: Huh???
Review: That was exactly what I said during the final scene. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it yet, BUT IT MADE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!!! CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN THIS????

The ape makeup was superb as were the special effects. I still like the original better because it has a moral lesson and warns against nuclear holocaust. ...The new story is interesting, but doesn't have the emotional impact of the original.

Charleton Heston's cameo is genious and I'm glad he was included. All in all it was interesting, but fans of the original will come away from this movie still liking the original better I believe. Special effects alone cannot make a movie. Poor or early special effects can be forgiven if the story is itself has you in it's grip.

Rating:
Summary: Monkey Shines
Review: Tim Burton's version of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes which features a reluctant hero (Mark Wahlberg), a "swinging" politically ambitious psycho-chimp
(brilliantly portrayed by Tim Roth), an interspecies love triangle, and an almost primative human population dominated and enslaved by vicious apes on an
alien planet was basically an entertaining sci-fi flick. But it lost some of its momentum when the great battle of the apes about to slaughter the humans was
interrupted by an all but forgotten character from the film's beginning (or past) who just happens to "drop in" causing a lot head scratching (both on and off the
the screen) and "ape soul searching. The twisted ending (which was predicted) was an ending no human ,especially Mark Wahlberg's character ,wanted to see.
Good sci-fi films are few and far between. Even with its flaws this was one of the better ones.