YEAR: 2001 DIRECTOR: Tim Burton COUNTRY: USA RUNTIME: 119 minutes
THE PLOT: An astronaut (Mark Wahlberg) crashlands on a planet ruled by apes where humans are considered animals and slaves, even though they are intelligent and can speak. The astronaut soon leads the humans to revolt.
I don't think there's any question that Tim Burton really knows how to make a film look great. And so it is with this remake of "Planet of the Apes." The locations, sets, ape make-up, costumes, cast, score (Danny Elfman) and direction are all outstanding. Just as good as the original film and, in many cases, even better. Unfortunately, the overall results are a mixed bag.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The biggest problem with this remake is that there is no build-up of mystery. Wahlberg crashlands to the planet very early on in the story, just like in the original film. Unfortunately, as soon as he lands he's IMMEDIATELY thrust into the ape/human conflict, captured and taken to the ape city. This flashes by so quickly that the viewer could easily MISS IT ALL if s/he got up for a few minutes to get something from the kitchen!! The original took its time in this matter; Taylor (Heston) and his fellow astronauts obviously crashland in the middle of nowhere and explore the planet for a long period of time before eventually encountering the inhabitants of the planet. It's all very mysterious, and there's a lot of build-up to the ape revelation.
It's also highly unbelievable that Wahlberg would crashland right into the midst of the human/ape conflict. The planet is the size of Earth, so what are the chances that he'd land right in the middle of the fray? I suppose Burton and the writers didn't want the film to bog down once Wahlberg crashlands, but couldn't they have at least given us FIVE MINUTES of exploration time, giving the impression that Wahlberg searches for a fairly long period of time before encountering the humans and apes? As it's presented it's simply too unbelievable.
This is a major misstep; and because it happens so early in the film it strongly tempts most intelligent viewers (who naturally MUST have some reasonable amount of believability to enjoy sci-fi) to lose faith in the picture and tune out or, at least, become excessively critical of the remainder of the film.
Another problem with the picture is that I just simply failed to really get caught up in the characters and their story. There needed to be more character-defining dialogue. A well written script causes the viewer to be CAPTIVATED by the storyline. Well, I never fully got captivated.
These factors explain why I was severely let down when first viewing the film at the theater in 2001.
WHAT WORKS: Seeing the film again recently, I was braced for these flaws and willing to suspend disbelief to (try to) enjoy the story. I now conclude that there are numerous worthwhile qualities to the remake.
For one thing, although Mark Wahlberg is no Charleton Heston (Taylor was Heston's greatest role and performance IMHO), I think he does a great job as the protagonist. Helena Bonham Carter is also fabulous in the Zira-like role of Ari; she really brings Ari to life and makes her unique. And as beautiful as Linda Harrison was as Nova, Estella Warren pretty much blows her out of the water in the counterpart role of Daena. Unfortunately her character is shallow and we never get a satisfyingly good look at Estelle in all her voluptuous glory. But, no matter, what we DO see is breathtaking.
Tim Roth is utterly evil as the villainous Thade. This is very much in contrast to Dr. Zaius in the original, who was actually a very noble character. Lastly, the giant Michael Clarke Duncan is magnificent as the gorilla general, Thade's "friend."
As to be expected, the ape make-up is WAY better than the original, even though I still love the job they did in the earlier film. The ape characters don't only look more like highly evolved apes compared to the original, they walk, talk, howl, grunt, jump, fight and climb more like real apes.
The ape city sets are fabulous too, albeit a bit too dark for my tastes. I find this unbelievable and verging on cartooney. I know Burton is into Goth and therefore prefers dark lighting, but it would be nice to actually SEE the wonderful sets made for the film (or perhaps he doesn't want the viewer to get too good a look and see how artificial they really are? I don't know, I'm just guessing).
I also liked all the homages to the original film -- the various lines, Linda Harrison, Charleton Heston as Thade's dying father, etc.
Although numerous people had a problem with the ending, I think they did a good job. How else better to end it? Notice how the camera mysteriously shoots from behind the "Lincoln Memorial" just like the original does with the Statue of Liberty.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Despite a couple major flaws there's a lot to appreciate in Burton's remake. It's not as good as the original or "Beneath," but it's, at least, on a par with "Escape." And it's certainly better than "Conquest" and, especially, "Battle."
The bottom line is that Tim Burton's remake of "Planet of the Apes" is a worthwhile addition to your apes film collection. For serious "Apes" fans it's even mandatory because, even though -- OVERALL -- it doesn't come close to the greatness of the original (or "Beneath"), it has numerous singular aspects that surpass it.
GRADE: C+ or B-
THE PLOT: An astronaut (Mark Wahlberg) crashlands on a planet ruled by apes where humans are considered animals and slaves, even though they are intelligent and can speak. The astronaut soon leads the humans to revolt.
I don't think there's any question that Tim Burton really knows how to make a film look great. And so it is with this remake of "Planet of the Apes." The locations, sets, ape make-up, costumes, cast, score (Danny Elfman) and direction are all outstanding. Just as good as the original film and, in many cases, even better. Unfortunately, the overall results are a mixed bag.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The biggest problem with this remake is that there is no build-up of mystery. Wahlberg crashlands to the planet very early on in the story, just like in the original film. Unfortunately, as soon as he lands he's IMMEDIATELY thrust into the ape/human conflict, captured and taken to the ape city. This flashes by so quickly that the viewer could easily MISS IT ALL if s/he got up for a few minutes to get something from the kitchen!! The original took its time in this matter; Taylor (Heston) and his fellow astronauts obviously crashland in the middle of nowhere and explore the planet for a long period of time before eventually encountering the inhabitants of the planet. It's all very mysterious, and there's a lot of build-up to the ape revelation.
It's also highly unbelievable that Wahlberg would crashland right into the midst of the human/ape conflict. The planet is the size of Earth, so what are the chances that he'd land right in the middle of the fray? I suppose Burton and the writers didn't want the film to bog down once Wahlberg crashlands, but couldn't they have at least given us FIVE MINUTES of exploration time, giving the impression that Wahlberg searches for a fairly long period of time before encountering the humans and apes? As it's presented it's simply too unbelievable.
This is a major misstep; and because it happens so early in the film it strongly tempts most intelligent viewers (who naturally MUST have some reasonable amount of believability to enjoy sci-fi) to lose faith in the picture and tune out or, at least, become excessively critical of the remainder of the film.
Another problem with the picture is that I just simply failed to really get caught up in the characters and their story. There needed to be more character-defining dialogue. A well written script causes the viewer to be CAPTIVATED by the storyline. Well, I never fully got captivated.
These factors explain why I was severely let down when first viewing the film at the theater in 2001.
WHAT WORKS: Seeing the film again recently, I was braced for these flaws and willing to suspend disbelief to (try to) enjoy the story. I now conclude that there are numerous worthwhile qualities to the remake.
For one thing, although Mark Wahlberg is no Charleton Heston (Taylor was Heston's greatest role and performance IMHO), I think he does a great job as the protagonist. Helena Bonham Carter is also fabulous in the Zira-like role of Ari; she really brings Ari to life and makes her unique. And as beautiful as Linda Harrison was as Nova, Estella Warren pretty much blows her out of the water in the counterpart role of Daena. Unfortunately her character is shallow and we never get a satisfyingly good look at Estelle in all her voluptuous glory. But, no matter, what we DO see is breathtaking.
Tim Roth is utterly evil as the villainous Thade. This is very much in contrast to Dr. Zaius in the original, who was actually a very noble character. Lastly, the giant Michael Clarke Duncan is magnificent as the gorilla general, Thade's "friend."
As to be expected, the ape make-up is WAY better than the original, even though I still love the job they did in the earlier film. The ape characters don't only look more like highly evolved apes compared to the original, they walk, talk, howl, grunt, jump, fight and climb more like real apes.
The ape city sets are fabulous too, albeit a bit too dark for my tastes. I find this unbelievable and verging on cartooney. I know Burton is into Goth and therefore prefers dark lighting, but it would be nice to actually SEE the wonderful sets made for the film (or perhaps he doesn't want the viewer to get too good a look and see how artificial they really are? I don't know, I'm just guessing).
I also liked all the homages to the original film -- the various lines, Linda Harrison, Charleton Heston as Thade's dying father, etc.
Although numerous people had a problem with the ending, I think they did a good job. How else better to end it? Notice how the camera mysteriously shoots from behind the "Lincoln Memorial" just like the original does with the Statue of Liberty.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Despite a couple major flaws there's a lot to appreciate in Burton's remake. It's not as good as the original or "Beneath," but it's, at least, on a par with "Escape." And it's certainly better than "Conquest" and, especially, "Battle."
The bottom line is that Tim Burton's remake of "Planet of the Apes" is a worthwhile addition to your apes film collection. For serious "Apes" fans it's even mandatory because, even though -- OVERALL -- it doesn't come close to the greatness of the original (or "Beneath"), it has numerous singular aspects that surpass it.
GRADE: C+ or B-