Planet of the Apes (2001)

Hollyfeld, here. A lot has been said about Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, but the general consensus is that, apart from the make-up, the sci-fi remake is a huge disappointment. As usual, we can blame the marketing department - the images of Planet of the Apes that they have chosen to deluge us with for the past several months have been unmistakably misleading, portraying the film as an epic sci-fi action film when, in fact, it is something far different. The remake of Planet of the Apes is, to put it simply... quirky. It is less an homage to the original film than a tribute to all the semi-great sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s - the films that attempted to portray a gigantic spectacle, often failed, but regardless of how silly their subject matter may have been, took it absolutely seriously.

(For examples of these films, I would strongly suggest a hearty diet of Mystery Science Theater 3000 re-runs. Fire Maidens From Outer Space is a particular favorite.)

Tim Burton has attempted this kind of tribute before in his under-rated, and completely misunderstood, big budget comedy Mars Attacks! But unlike that previous film, a mean-spirited concept comedy, Planet of the Apes has enough old-fashioned summer action - combined with some of the greatest make-up effects work in history - to allow people who don't get the joke to enjoy it on some level as well.

Planet of the Apes tells the story of a human, Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Three Kings), who in the near future gets caught in an outer-space electrical storm while attempting to save a chimpanzee test pilot. The storm knocks his ship through time and space, eventually landing him somewhere in the future, on a planet inhabited by damned, and dirty, apes. He is shortly captured and enslaved by these primates, but does not stay so for long, shortly allying himself with a "Human Rights Activist," Ari(Helena Bonham Carter - Wings of the Dove, Fight Club), who helps lead his small band of escapees to potential freedom. This does not go over particularly well with General Thade (Tim Roth - Reservoir Dogs, Rob Roy), a sadistic military leader who would like nothing more than an excuse to exterminate humankind once and for all.

When the remake of Planet of the Apes was first officially announced I admit to having been skeptical, particularly in the choice of casting for "The Human," Capt. Leo Davis. While I enjoy Mark Wahlberg's work, he seemed to lack the quirkiness, personified by Johnny Depp, that all of Tim Burton's best actors seem to possess. Now, of course, his stoic heroism makes a great deal of sense - he delivers his lines with a sense of earnestness lacking from the rest of the film, which overflows with character actors either hamming it up (Paul Giamatti) or chewing the scenery (Tim Roth). To Wahlberg's credit he manages to imbue Captain Davis with more personality than Joel McCrea would have (for example), but he nonetheless remains a cipher - the biggest throwback to sci-fi filmmaking of yore, when the studly "everyman" (i.e. white, 20-30, with almost no personality) was always the unquestioned hero.

Of course, these sci-fi films also featured a heroine - a shapely young female from an alien planet who just happened to be biologically compatible with our hero. In this vein we have the lovely Estella Warren, who is sadly not given particularly much to do other than look at Capt. Davis with fittingly worshipping eyes. Tim Burton being Tim Burton, however, we are also treated to one of the most amusing love triangles in recent years, with Leo, and the audience, being semi-forced to decide between the human and the ape, Ari. Any conversation between Leo and one of the aforementioned females is intercut, at least once, with a jealous look from the other, often eliciting intentional (or is it unintentional?) laughter from the audience.

Personally, I (and the several friends who attended the movie with me) would have gone for the ape. Apparently, Tim Burton did, too; the director seemed far more interested in his ape subject than his humans ones, and it shows. Not just in terms of the make-up, which is almost always stunning, however. Roth, Carter, and Cary Tagawa (Mortal Kombat) in particular seem almost freed by their costumes, allowing completely new, never-before-seen characters to emerge from out of their latex. (Perhaps it was just me, but Michael Clarke Duncan, more than anyone else, really looked like a guy in an ape suit.) But in addition to all of this physical detail, the apes steal the show by getting all the best lines, and the most interesting stuff to do.

However, despite the fact that I think most critics have thus far not "gotten" Planet of the Apes, I myself would hesitate to call it a work of genius. Tim Burton, for all his talent, has still never been able to make a particularly thrilling action scene (at least, not without the aid of Ray Park), and here never quite nails the "epic filmmaking" style that the film so desperately needed. The ape city ever really feels more real than a soundstage, and with few exceptions his scenes of ape armies assembling and rampaging never really make the impact they really should have. These are not, of course, terrible sins - but they do detract from the overall quality of the film. And although I cannot deny that I personally enjoy the cheesy, quirky, or just plain odd throwbacks to old-fashioned sci-fi adventure filmmaking, most viewers will simply fail to get the joke, and being unable to see behind the façade find the film a sub-standard, though interesting, action spectacle. I am reminded of The Bride of Frankenstein - a film intended to be a comedy by the director, but also genuinely frightening to all those who weren't in on the gag. But whereas Bride works on both counts, Apes does not, and will no doubt eventually suffer for it... at least after the opening weekend.

The ending of Planet of the Apes is an unusual beast, managing to be both rather cool and extremely silly all at once, thus cementing the film as an automatic cult classic. However, unlike most of the blockbusters this summer, the finale to Planet of the Apes leaves us open to a sequel that, for once, I really want to see. If this is the beginning of a beautiful franchise, let us hope that they keep quirky geniuses like Tim Burton at the helm - for although Planet of the Apes may be an imperfect endeavor, it is certainly one of the most interesting action films of the year.

If nothing else, it really made me want to have sex with an ape. (Helena... Call me.)