Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" is not a remake of the original version of the film, but rather a "re-imagining" or different take of that original material. Wise move. The original "Apes" is a film that still holds its own as an all-time sci-fi classic; pretty much any attempt to remake it faithfully would wind up like Gus Van Sant's remake of Hitchcock's "Psycho". . . a pale imitation of greatness. By "reimagining" the original film, Burton gives himself the opportunity to start with the established mythology of the "Apes" series, as well as the ability to travel in a new direction with that mythology. The end result? The new "Planet of the Apes" is nothing Earth-shattering (pardon the pun) -- in ten or twenty years, it won't be looked at with the same reverence or respect as the original "Apes" -- but it's still good, and brings enough new ideas to the table to make a reasonably entertaining film.
The story, which ranges in spots from good to barely mediocre, possesses some serious gaps of logic and suffers from an awkward opening. The first fifteen minutes of the film makes little sense, and lurches along aimlessly for awhile until it stumbles into the heart of its story. (Examples of some nonsense: Couldn't chimp-piloted ships simply be controlled by computers? Would highly experimental exploration pods be able to launch from a space station just by one rogue pilot punching in a two-second launch sequence?) The opening of the film admittedly does make more sense by the end of the film, but it's still not very good. It appears as though the writers thought of a solid middle and ending for their version of "Planet of the Apes" . . . but had no idea how to get the story past the opening credits to that middle and ending. The weak beginning seems like their best attempt to get the story moving to those points. As for the rest of the story, it contains a lot of good, even original elements, but some points are glossed over in a rather hurried fashion -- there's little effort made to explore some plot threads, and some of the explanations as to how and why things happen in the film are either weak or come completely out of left field. The story's excellent . . . for a second draft. I've read that Twentieth Century Fox rushed this new version of "Planet of the Apes" into production. Too bad. The story and script could've been excellent -- and more important, solid throughout -- with some more work.
Despite the uneven story, though, director Tim Burton does a nice job, given the script he has to work with. If nothing else, Burton has a knack for giving films an eccentric look, and his version of "Planet of the Apes" benefits greatly from his eccentric touch. He evokes a lot of the weird imagery of the original films (the weird scarecrows, the desolate landscapes) without ever blatantly stealing from them. He also does a great job when it comes to focusing on the smaller, quieter moments in the movie -- for example, there's a macabre scene where a child ape puts her pet human in its cage for the night that manages to be disturbing and funny at the same time. Burton, though, doesn't appear to have a clear idea of the overall tone of the movie. In "Planet of the Apes", he goes for a blend of action, comedy, and seriousness . . . but the blend doesn't always work. Some of the humor seems out of place, and the action often seems stilted, as if Burton didn't know what to do with the apes apart from having them leap around menacingly. The film is one of Burton's better efforts, but much like the script, the direction contains a few distinct weak spots.
As for the actors . . . again, it's a mixed bag. The apes comprise the stronger half of the cast, which makes sense, since the apes are the weirder of the two groups - and Tim Burton specializes in weird. In regards to the human characters, Burton would've been better off making the humans in his version of "Planet of the Apes" more like the humans in the original film - mute. Apart from the protagonist Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg), none of them add anything of import to the film anyway. The highlights of the individual actors come from mostly from the main characters. Tim Roth nails the part of villainous General Thade perfectly - he's one of the best sci-fi screen villains to appear on screen in quite awhile. Wahlberg plays Captain Leo Davidson in a manner similar to Heston in the original film; he's a man who's not terribly interested in contemplating how he arrived at a planet ruled by intelligent apes . . . he just knows he wants to leave. Fast. He's a pragmatic hero, one who reluctantly tries to help others in distress, but doesn't want to die in the process. Also worth mentioning is Paul Giamatti, who provides some much-needed comic relief as the peculiar orangutan slaver Limbo. On the other side of the acting coin, the biggest disappointment came from Helena Bonham Carter as Ari. Given the poor quality of her character in the screenplay, she does what she can for her character, but all she really does for the whole film is to go around being nice to humans. Period. Some reasons as to WHY Ari feels so passionately about helping humans would've been nice.
Tim Burton's `Planet of the Apes' is an action movie that manages to take some of the influences of the original `Apes' films, and then creates something eccentric and new. Does it always work? No, although in general, the good outweighs the bad. Is it better than the original? Absolutely not. In a summer filled with blockbuster duds, though, there's something to be said for a film that provides some thrills and some fun, and the new `Planet of Apes' does exactly that. Overall, it's an enjoyable film; it's just not a spectacular one. Grade: B
The story, which ranges in spots from good to barely mediocre, possesses some serious gaps of logic and suffers from an awkward opening. The first fifteen minutes of the film makes little sense, and lurches along aimlessly for awhile until it stumbles into the heart of its story. (Examples of some nonsense: Couldn't chimp-piloted ships simply be controlled by computers? Would highly experimental exploration pods be able to launch from a space station just by one rogue pilot punching in a two-second launch sequence?) The opening of the film admittedly does make more sense by the end of the film, but it's still not very good. It appears as though the writers thought of a solid middle and ending for their version of "Planet of the Apes" . . . but had no idea how to get the story past the opening credits to that middle and ending. The weak beginning seems like their best attempt to get the story moving to those points. As for the rest of the story, it contains a lot of good, even original elements, but some points are glossed over in a rather hurried fashion -- there's little effort made to explore some plot threads, and some of the explanations as to how and why things happen in the film are either weak or come completely out of left field. The story's excellent . . . for a second draft. I've read that Twentieth Century Fox rushed this new version of "Planet of the Apes" into production. Too bad. The story and script could've been excellent -- and more important, solid throughout -- with some more work.
Despite the uneven story, though, director Tim Burton does a nice job, given the script he has to work with. If nothing else, Burton has a knack for giving films an eccentric look, and his version of "Planet of the Apes" benefits greatly from his eccentric touch. He evokes a lot of the weird imagery of the original films (the weird scarecrows, the desolate landscapes) without ever blatantly stealing from them. He also does a great job when it comes to focusing on the smaller, quieter moments in the movie -- for example, there's a macabre scene where a child ape puts her pet human in its cage for the night that manages to be disturbing and funny at the same time. Burton, though, doesn't appear to have a clear idea of the overall tone of the movie. In "Planet of the Apes", he goes for a blend of action, comedy, and seriousness . . . but the blend doesn't always work. Some of the humor seems out of place, and the action often seems stilted, as if Burton didn't know what to do with the apes apart from having them leap around menacingly. The film is one of Burton's better efforts, but much like the script, the direction contains a few distinct weak spots.
As for the actors . . . again, it's a mixed bag. The apes comprise the stronger half of the cast, which makes sense, since the apes are the weirder of the two groups - and Tim Burton specializes in weird. In regards to the human characters, Burton would've been better off making the humans in his version of "Planet of the Apes" more like the humans in the original film - mute. Apart from the protagonist Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg), none of them add anything of import to the film anyway. The highlights of the individual actors come from mostly from the main characters. Tim Roth nails the part of villainous General Thade perfectly - he's one of the best sci-fi screen villains to appear on screen in quite awhile. Wahlberg plays Captain Leo Davidson in a manner similar to Heston in the original film; he's a man who's not terribly interested in contemplating how he arrived at a planet ruled by intelligent apes . . . he just knows he wants to leave. Fast. He's a pragmatic hero, one who reluctantly tries to help others in distress, but doesn't want to die in the process. Also worth mentioning is Paul Giamatti, who provides some much-needed comic relief as the peculiar orangutan slaver Limbo. On the other side of the acting coin, the biggest disappointment came from Helena Bonham Carter as Ari. Given the poor quality of her character in the screenplay, she does what she can for her character, but all she really does for the whole film is to go around being nice to humans. Period. Some reasons as to WHY Ari feels so passionately about helping humans would've been nice.
Tim Burton's `Planet of the Apes' is an action movie that manages to take some of the influences of the original `Apes' films, and then creates something eccentric and new. Does it always work? No, although in general, the good outweighs the bad. Is it better than the original? Absolutely not. In a summer filled with blockbuster duds, though, there's something to be said for a film that provides some thrills and some fun, and the new `Planet of Apes' does exactly that. Overall, it's an enjoyable film; it's just not a spectacular one. Grade: B