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Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Blah, Blah, Blah
Review: Sooooo many people like to write about the movie, the music, the screenplay, the plot. It was a good Sci-Fi and nothing else. The ending kept my group talking all the way home. I'm looking forward to #2. Eat more bananas and keep these movies coming.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Re-imagined Remake Unimaginative
Review: Remember the great story, believable characters, and sly political commentary of the original 'Planet of the Apes'? The 2001 version has none of the wit and charm of the original. What we get is a shallow summer event movie, even more low brow then 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'. There are several huge wholes in the plot, Marky Mark can't carry the film, and the twist ending makes no sense if you were paying attention to the spaceship's chronometer. The high point is the make-up, but even that isn't that great. Wait till it's on cable.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Kids' stuff
Review: Mark Wahlberg wanders around this movie not saying much. He doesn't change in the course of the film, either. He can't pilot a space ship at the beginning OR the end of the film. His character is so dull that it could almost have been written out of the script. Indeed, the whole picture could have simply just not been done!

Yes, there are good parts to the film. Tim Roth brings as much as he can to his badly written Johnny-one-note antagonist and Helena Bonham Carter is a likable chimpanzee. I won't quibble about the realism of the apes, either. They look spectacular. I just wish there was a good story and some thoughtful direction.

This new version is unlike the original 1968 classic. In the old film, actors got to act, to have brief soliloquies and play everything from quiet conversation to whomping shootouts. The original film (and how can you not compare them??) took its time looking at the scenery, developing character and occasionally engaging in philosophical dialog. It was a movie for adults

The new Apes film is strictly kids' stuff. Filled with violence that looks like it was choreographed by the makers of Xena and overflowing with Danny Elfman's repetitious and bombastic score, there simply is no room here for dialogue, or story, or character development!

The opening credits are excellent (they weren't done by director Tim Burton, I was disappointed to learn), but after that it is all sort of downhill. It isn't a terrible movie, it just isn't anything an adult can enjoy. When will Hollywood give us a big picture that isn't crafted for 14 year-old skateboarders?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A fun, yet some-what disapointing remake
Review: Planet of the Apes might come off as a disapointment to fans of the original but Tim Burton fans should like it at least. It's not exactly his best, his weakest next to Mars Attacks but just like that you can't say it doesn't fail to entertain. One problem with it is that eventhough Mark Wahlberg can act but he doesn't do much for the movie eventhough he trys very hard. Hell his character that gets stuck on this planet just because he follows his test chimp's space pod into a time warp is hardly engaging either. I think his buddy George Clooney should of played the part actually. Eventhough the character is weak Clooney probably could of added a lot more charm to the role. The actors playing the apes definetly outshine Wahlberg, especially Tim Roth (Rob Roy) who gives another Oscar worthy performance. When his character's angry and he flips around making ape noises....you're scared. Not hard to see why he's leader, not the kind of ape you want to mess with. Although this remake won't be called a classic 30 years from now, in some ways it totally outshines the original. The make-up is a lot more realistic and unlike the original, this one has a lot more action. One thing is for though the ending to this one is a lot less powerful. It's funny don't get me wrong but it doesn't compare to the originals at all. After seeing Planet of the Apes I want to see Tim Burton make another Science Fiction film, but this time of something that hasn't been done already. Like most of the big budget summer movies of this year, this is just another fun popcorn movie nothing more.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Worth seeing but don't expect the highest caliber
Review: Planet was very impressive in the special effects department but the storyline could have used some more development. For instance, the apes ruled the humans, then Marky Mark stood up for the humans (with the help of his chimp) and penned up Thade. Immediately, all was peaceful between the apes and humans. Just wasn't convincing enough. It felt like you could have gotten to know the characters better. Perhaps making this another 3 hour blockbuster would have done it some good. Check it out though as it does hold your interest throughout. The ending was a little lame but very "Twilight Zoneish" if you enjoy that stuff.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The script was written by apes!
Review: ... Plot holes big enough to pilot a spacecraft through, a so-called "twist" at the end that you can see coming from miles off, and aren't we all just a little sick and tired of the hot-blooded young maverick that deliberately disobeys all orders and does whatever he wants? It gets one star only because I couldn't give it a negative number. Rent the original if you want to see a good movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Cool Effects!
Review: Nice Fantasy... It's a realy Tim Burton Movie!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Apes Rule!
Review: I really enjoyed this "remake" of the classic movie-Planet of the Apes! I thought that Bruce Willis and Demi Moore gave a truly remarkable performance. The roles they portrayed as the infamous Dr. Zeus and Zira were extremely refreshing. I was quite impressed with the way they "trained" all the apes. Their speech sounded so authenic. Isn't it amazing how they taught the apes to speak like humans? Wow! The only time I've seen apes speak that well...was in the movie-"CONGO"! I love all flicks with monkeys, apes and gorillas. They are such deicious creatures. Mel Gibson & Richard Burton out did themselves on this "awesome" masterpiece!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Stinks to high heaven.
Review: Perhaps "stinks" is too strong of a condemnation. Perhaps I should just say this film smells very bad -- like a damn dirty human.

I didn't expect greatness, but greatness was certainly possible, given the director and the story. Alas, Tim Burton's genius is an erratic one.

I was impressed with the verisimilitude of many of the ape characters, and the special effects in general were well executed. There were some amusing twists on the original storyline.

The acting performances were OK too -- not great, but for the most part competent, and often convincing.

But this film lacked drama and tension. The potential power of the story wasn't exploited. I never felt compassion for the enslaved humans, never felt the cruelty of the apes, the injustice of the system, the resonance with our own social inequities. Instead, the film seemed to consist of a series of trivial encounters and meaningless conflicts.

And the worst part was certainly the ending. It seemed obvious that the filmmakers wanted to create a powerful ending that was on par with -- but different from -- the original film. In one sense they achieved this, but at the expense of logic. As a science fiction film, this story is grounded in imaginitive but rational speculation. To simply throw out reason entirely for the sake of a bang-up ending is a betrayal of the principle that drives the story in the first place. It's also very insulting to the audience, as it says, "We know this doesn't make sense, but you won't care or even notice, because you just crave sensation, and don't have any intellectual capacity."

Then again, looking at the preponderance of positive reviews here, perhaps the filmmakers are right.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ending Shatters Good Flick
Review: And this movie had such promise! All the elements of a great action adventure, sci-fi epic were in place and pre-set. All the director and producers had to do was deliver. And they did deliver...sort of...right up to the very end. For reasons that can only be described as greed, we are asked to switch gears to unfamiliar ground, to "reimagine" that the "world" as we know it is not as we know it. Not good. We have already been asked to suspend disbelief as a premise of the plot in the first place. And we're willing to do so...to a point. This movie goes way beyond that point. The ending is not satisfying in any way, leaving the whole audience with a sense of having been ripped off, of having just sat through a 30 minute Twilight Zone in two hours, of having been disrespected as an audience. It had so much promise. The technical stuff is first class except that it does not take advantage of the full scope of computer possibilities and the cast of characters could have pulled off much more sophisticated stuff. In the end, the director gave us another $100,000 sequel for way too much money. Sorry, guys. Better luck next time.


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