 |
Planet
of the Apes |
| Rated
PG-13 |
| Runtime:
2hr 0min |
| Staring:
Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Estella Warren
and Michael Clarke Duncan |
|
MFG
Rating: 3/5
|
Planet
of the Apes is one of the most eagerly awaited films of the summer.
The question is can it live up to the hype and measure up to the
1968 classic first version which inspired a series of sequels and
even a TV series? The immediate answer is visually it certainly
does. But the story, well, that requires some additional consideration.
The
story isn't exactly the same as the 1968 original. Director Tim
Burton calls this a "reimagining" of the same story. This
time, our hero is played by Mark Wahlberg, and as in the original
he finds himself crash landed on a planet where apes are the superior
primates, not humans. Some of the differences are that Mark comes
alone instead of with a crew and this time the native humans can
talk. And the plot of the movie involving the interaction between
the apes and their new visiting human is just totally different
from the original, but I will say no more in order to avoid spoiling
anything.
Wahlberg
gets credit as the star, but the real stars here are the wonderful
creations of Rick Baker. For those of you who do not know, Rick
is far and away the best makeup man in Hollywood. Every character
you've seen in the last 20 years where the makeup is just jaw dropping
from The Klump family in Nutty Professor to the Grinch to
the werewolves in Wolf and An American Werewolf in London
to Bigfoot in Harry and the Henderson are all the masterpieces
of Baker. He has done apes before too including Gorillas in the
Mist among others. But I believe Planet of the Apes is by far
his best work to date and is perhaps his Sistine Chapel.
The
apes are simply incredible. They look great and believable even
in closeups. Unlike the original, their movements and mannerisms
are also much more ape-like. And then there's Ari, the sympathetic
female ape played by Helena Bonham Carter. Baker was challenged
to create an attractive, yet realistic looking female ape to present
a bit of an interspecies romantic triangle that is believable. He
succeeded, we'd probably do her if she shaved her back.
The
movie is gorgeous and perhaps worth seeing on the big screen just
for the makeup alone. But the story is just kinda there and although
Mark Wahlberg has done some good work recently, he doesn't come
close to upstaging Charlton Heston here. Everything about the movie,
other than the apes, seems to underachieve. There's humor, but not
near enough. The action is somewhat limited by the story being staged
on a primitive planet and a PG-13 rating. The SciFi aspect, well,
this isn't deep sci-fi to anyone over the age of 12.
And
then there's the ending, the big secret surprise ending. It drove
our team of reviewers right out of their tree. Word is that Burton
filmed 6 different endings. And if after monkeying around with all
of them, this is the best one, he must have gone bananas. Our final
score is 3 stars for the movie, it's loaded with great eye candy
and a classic premise, but overall is a bit of an underachiever.
-
Billy Bob
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
Gun Play
He
shoulda brought more shells!
Blood & Gore
P.O.'d
gorillas pack a wallop, but PG-13 minimizes how much we see.
Car Chases
Ape
legs are too short to reach the pedals.
T&A
Skimpy
native clothing on human females.
Chuckles
Pay
attention the ape city, there's some funny stuff happening in
the backgrounds. |
|