Planet of the Apes (2001) (Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter) 1/2
The original Planet of the Apes was just right for its time. The 1968 classic touched on many relevant issues: racism, fear of technology, doubt in religion, history, and tradition. Although he was far from a Cecil B. DeMille set, Charlton Heston heftily delivered grandiose lines with as much conviction as his loincloth would allow. This Apes wasn't about action, it was about understanding.
Like a purple, nebulous space cloud, we now fast forward over 30 years into the future, and get Tim Burton's re-imagining of Franklin J. Schaffner's film (or is it Pierre Boule's novel?). Starring former rap-star Mark Wahlberg as the hero and art-house diva Helena Bonham Carter as the lovestruck chimp, it's quite clear 20 minutes into the picture that this version is more about the action this time around.
Apart from a repeat glimpse of the human scarecrows, some similar set designs, and a brief cameo by a familiar icon, there is very little in common with the original cult hit. This gives the screenplay a lot more breathing room and is a much more welcome result than simply remaking the first one. Conceptually, one can hardly tell this is a Tim Burton film. Gone are the surrealistic sets and borderline manic characters that permeate most of his repertoire. It's a by-the-numbers effort by someone who is normally quite a distinctive director, yet that's precisely what is needed to make it work. Burton seems to understand the fact that talking apes alone is quirky enough without pushing any more envelopes than is required.
Most of the apes are successfully realized, particularly Paul Giamatti as the orangutan Limbo, a smooth-talking human trader. He goes through the most obvious character transformation in spite of the slight of hand subject matter. As always, Tim Roth is a delightful bad guy as General Thade, and Bonham Carter (Ari) and Wahlberg (Leo) are passable, however their characters are much stronger when not weighed down by dialogue. Leo's quest to get off the planet before even attempting to figure out what's going on is a tad unbelievable, but what I found most disappointing was the fact that the humans could speak and be understood by the apes. It's far more difficult to see the apes' difficulty in relating to the humans when the two species could resolve their differences by simply sitting around and talking about it over a mug of monkey moonshine.
There has been an ongoing discussion about the movie's ending and how moviegoers and critics alike have found it either extreme, silly, or extremely silly. Personally, I think it hits just the right tone and I enjoyed the way it almost gives a respectful nod to the original series. Is it better than the Heston classic? No. Planet of the Apes isn't a highly intellectual movie, and it isn't even this summer's best offering, but I'm sure there will be humans who will still be going bananas for it some 30 years down the road.
