Despite some unbelievable pod landings, "Planet of the Apes" a movie that attracted negative reviews at the time was one that is my personal favorites. A decade later I decided to pop the movie in and give it another go. Yep, I still feel the same! Love the movie, love the makeup and costuming, love the themes discussed and by all means, love the cliff hanger Tim Burton uses in the end. I have all kinds of love for this movie. Seems like Tim Burton had a vision of more movies in the Ape regime; sadly for some of us it just did not see its way through due to the entire mixed acceptance back in 2001. Tim Burton as all you readers are aware is quite unorthodox and eccentric in his directorial choices. For those of you who are not as familiar as some of us, he gave us "Alice In Wonderland" , "Sweeney Todd", "Corpse Bride", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" "Sleepy Hallow" & "Edward Scissor Hands" to name a few. If you are a reader who follows movies not by trailer but by director, 8 out of 10 have watched all of the above. "Planet of the Apes" with comparison to Burton's style is quite different. It's a Sci Fi that discuss themes of Animal Cruelty, Humans vs Nature and also if you want to be scoffer who hates this movie, a remake of classic Sci Fi from 1968. I respect classics, however what if I can watch it done slightly better. The costuming and make up is brilliant in comparison to the classic. However my intention is not to compare this with the reputed classic. 5 Stars and a round of applause for the magnificent work put in by the team with the makeup and costuming. For a movie made a decade ago this is brilliant, I have watched movies done in the past 2 years that can't even hold a candle to this effort. There is a lot of emotion that is required to be conveyed, which was a vital element to carry out the emotional wave. Giving the extra advantage of excellent facial movement makes it so realistic, never would I have for a moment felt, it is false and it is just a movie. I was right there in the middle of it all. Thumbs up yet again! As much as I respect Mark Wahlbergs performance, I have to side with Tim Roth on this one. Bold performance! The ferocity, the valor, the true determination to make every human suffer he nailed it all. Tim Roth although under so much of makeup, has his presence; he is just scared to look at. He is the meanest Ape I have seen so far. Helena Bonham Carter, who later marries director Burton in real life, was convincing and also was the vital link that ties human affection and animal cruelty on a broader perspective. Personally though I felt that Carter has so much more potential is capable of contributing more. (But wait! Am I comparing her to who she has become before she became?)
We do not realize what it is like to be caged, or to be treated as pets or even as beasts, but seems like there is much to fathom from this, animals feel as much as we do. These are lessons for some of us who beat our pets up, or for those who don't leave a clean bowl of water for your dog every day. Doesn't look too great when the tables are turned does it? Also we humans don't realize that once done, certain things can never be undone (You have to watch the movie till the end to understand this). Wahlberg clearly states in the movie that we humans hurt each other way more than we hurt animals on his home planet? Have you ever stopped to think how true that it is? With such beautiful themes that are very well deeply hidden it disheartens me that this movie never got the place it rightfully still deserves. A decade is a long time, but the copies are still out there. I am pretty certain that most of the younger generations never have seen this one; just like back in 2001 I had never seen the 1968 classic!
We do not realize what it is like to be caged, or to be treated as pets or even as beasts, but seems like there is much to fathom from this, animals feel as much as we do. These are lessons for some of us who beat our pets up, or for those who don't leave a clean bowl of water for your dog every day. Doesn't look too great when the tables are turned does it? Also we humans don't realize that once done, certain things can never be undone (You have to watch the movie till the end to understand this). Wahlberg clearly states in the movie that we humans hurt each other way more than we hurt animals on his home planet? Have you ever stopped to think how true that it is? With such beautiful themes that are very well deeply hidden it disheartens me that this movie never got the place it rightfully still deserves. A decade is a long time, but the copies are still out there. I am pretty certain that most of the younger generations never have seen this one; just like back in 2001 I had never seen the 1968 classic!