Planet of the Apes

Rating:
Summary: Apes for dummies
Review: This film is another of director Tim Burton's attempts to capitalize on a familiar title to bring his "vision" to the screen. He has done it with "Batman", "Sleepy Hollow" and now this. This is not a remake. The only thing it has in common with the original is that it has simians that can speak (and Charleton Heston makes a cameo). Burton has reconstituted the entire story, watering it down for today's mass viewership.

The original Planet of the Apes was a product of its time. During the 1960's America was struggling to redefine its civilization. It was a turbulent time of soul searching and rethinking social norms. It was the civil rights era where groups long considered inferior demanded to be treated as equal. In that context, POTA was allegorical, reflecting the philosophical turmoil confronting the audiences of the day. POTA was an extremely intelligent film that broached difficult questions and elegantly held the oppressions of American society up to scrutiny by making the white guy justify his intelligence to a species he considered inferior. The dialectic between Colonel Taylor (Charleton Heston), Dr. Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) was thought provoking and intelligent with ironies both subtle and obvious.

Burton's version is as much a product of today's times as POTA was of the sixties. This is Apes for Dummies. It is superficial and jejune, substituting politically correct platitudes for intelligent dialogue and focusing more on form than substance. The "surprise" ending is utterly incongruous and contributes nothing to the film except a cliffhanger that sets up the sequel. While the ending of the original POTA gracefully tied everything together in a single powerful scene, Burton's ending simply mocks the audience, taunting, "I know something you don't know, and you are going to have to wait for the sequel to find out."

From a technical perspective, as is always the case with Burton's film, the film is excellent. The makeup is fantastic and Burton's camerawork is outstanding (though I continue to dislike his dark look). However, thirty-three years of advancements in prosthetic makeup can not compensate for the insultingly vacuous script.

The story has been reduced to a monster movie. The humans band together behind Captain Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) to fight the monstrous Apes, aided and abetted by a few turncoats (notably Helena Bonham Carter as Ari). The presentation is formulaic and simplistic with plenty of violence, perfect for today's fast food mentality.

The acting is mixed. Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor who is simply miscast in this role. Walberg is excellent at playing dark, sullen characters that are tormented but strong. This part requires an inspirational hero, a profile not in Wahlberg's repertoire. Helena Bonham Carter is a brilliant actor whose character is so far beneath her ability that the disconnect is laughable. She tries desperately to do something with the flimsy character, but her interpretation presents like a cross between a college peace demonstrator and love sick teenager.

Then there is Tim Roth. His is a virtuoso performance, single-handedly saving the film from total ruin. Roth is diabolically hateful as the malevolent General Thade. He creates one of the most villainous and despicable bad guys I can remember in some time. Additionally, his physical acting is superlative, rendering a chimp-man that is such a perfect meld that one can almost believe that the species exists.

This film is a great disappointment. It is decent entertainment, as long as you check your brain at the door. I rated it a 3/10. From a technical perspective it is much better than that, perhaps a 9/10. However, the story is an affront to the original franchise. It is simply another attempt by Burton at self adulation, using a familiar title to attract throngs to the box office so lots of people can see what a genius he is. Of course it's true, but it would be great if he used that talent to produce substantial films, instead of simple minded pap formulated for mass consumption.

Rating:
Summary: Stupid Ending
Review: The movie was fair with good makeup and special effects. But the ending was stupid and it stunk. It's the kind of ending that makes you want to wring Tim Burton's neck. You feel like you've been had and just wasted a hour and a half. I would'nt recommend this movie to a dog.

Rating:
Summary: how did this monkey flick get like this?
Review: An absolute mess. Burton seems unsure which Apes movie he's making, so he throws in bits of everything including the TV series and mixes it all up. It's bound to suffer comparisons with the original, but apart from the FX and ape makeup, it struggles against the other movies too. Even the studio sets, the forest, ape city all look a bit cheap, and the fast pacing only makes it seem rushed. I can excuse the ending on account that it's in the original novel, but in the context of this film it makes no sense whatsoever.

Rating:
Summary: Best Ape film in months!
Review: What an improvement! More apes, better costumes, and more dialog than any previous ape film. This is even an integrated ape society with gorilla apes, chimpanzee apes, and orangutan apes. I went ape! My cat had to yell at me to "stop monkeying around" while we watched it. I recommend repeat viewing to catch the parts you miss the first time because you were so excited.

The ending is brilliant! The hero finds the Lincoln monument in Washington and there is the giant statue of Ape-raham Lincoln! Remember how there were all those political cartoons of Lincoln as a monkey? Its true! He was an ape after all. Wow. Great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Packed DVD, Good movie
Review: Planet of the Apes, starring Mark Wahlberg, is intense. Maybe a bit too intense. You learn barely anything about Wahlberg's character, who is as cold as stone, and all the growling and yelling can get annoying at times. Helena Bonham Carter prolly does the best here, and so does Michael Clark Duncan. Roth plays like something's been stuck up where the sun don't shine, and Estella Warren and Kris Kristofferson are pretty much just eye candy. Not many lines, just that they're there. Talk about a waste of one good actor (Kristofferson) and one hot babe. The movie is action packed, and the plot is good. The twist ending is only decent. Video and sound quality is superior, but maybe a little too much.

Rating:
Summary: don`t waste your time and money!!
Review: I wonder why Tim Burton made this movie. It is nowhere near the classic the planet of the apes by Franklin J. Schaffner. The old one has a very good story; the way it advances to the final point of the movie is just great. It even has very good makeup despite the fact that it is 30 years old. About the new one (Tim Burton version), it has nothing more than the help of better technology. The story is pretty ordinary. The way this movie proceeds, it fails to create any sense excitement or awe whatsoever. And it turns out to be neither a science fiction nor an action movie. So my opinion is this: donft waste your time and money to see this movie. I give the only star just to place this review.

Rating:
Summary: Disaster Flick
Review: Laughably bad remake of the 1968 classic.
Everything is wrong in this big-budget shlock-fest.
Worth renting once - it IS somewhat interesting -
but contains one of the worst endings of all-time.
Huh???

Rating:
Summary: Watch the original first
Review: Otherwise, it'll be a bit difficult to get all the jokes. I was
also perturbed with myself for finding Carter to still be hot, even as a chimp. Or monkey. Or whatever she was. Very good film,
bordering on the great, but darn if Wahlberg should not have
stayed with the apes (heck, everyone there asked him to). The ending is ultimately unsatisfying. Until that point, it's a very
absorbing film, with lots of fast-paced action and a lot of humor (the slave-trader is a riot). Dammit, now there needs to be a sequel!

Rating:
Summary: IF SIMIANS RULED THE WORLD...
Review: This remake of the 1968 blockbuster is an entirely different movie. If the viewer expects it to follow the original, the viewer will, undoubtedly, be disappointed. While the storyline is basically the same in that simians have enslaved humans, it has decidely different twists.

First and foremost, Rick Baker's ape make up surpasses that of the 1968 version. It is unbelievably good, almost remarkable. The makeup, coupled with the simian specific behavioral nuances, and the final filip brought to the simian characters by the actors themselves, brings the simian characters to life, making them very three dimensional.

The storyline is fairly simple. A Major Davidson, while traveling in a spaceship, attempts to rescue a space pod containing one of his favorite chimpanzees and finds himself caught up in an electro-magnetic disturbance. This storm causes him to crash land on a planet, where simians are the dominant species, and humans are their slaves. No sooner than he lands, that he finds himself enslaved and enbroiled in survival.

He discovers that there are two opposing camps of thought amongst the simians on the issue of humans. One school of thought, favored by Ari (Helen Bonham- Carter), favors equality, while the other, espoused by the sinister General Thade, urges extermination. There is also a romantic sub-plot between these two protagonists.

What happens to them all provides much food for thought. Wahlberg is somewhat wooden in his portrayal of Davidson, which is somewhat surprising, as he is usually a pretty competent actor. Tim Roth is absolutely terrific as the single minded and ruthless General Thade. While Helen Bonham-Carter is good as the liberal simian, it is Paul Giammatti who very nearly steals the show as Limbo, the slave trader. Look for Charlton Heston in the role of General Thade's dying father. This unbilled cameo is a nice touch and a salute to the 1968 film.

Tim Burton did an excellent job with this remake until the very end, when the movie seriously goes off course . This is unfortunate, as it serves only to have a jarring effect on the viewer, leaving the viewer to wonder what happened. With a better ending, it could have been a five star film.

Rating:
Summary: Old Fogey- Liked the original
Review: The movie was fun, but it did not compare to the original with Charlton Heston. That was a classic. Also, I hated the ending.