Subject: Review: Planet of the Apes (2001)

From: Edward Johnson-Ott <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 19:45:29 -0000

Planet of the Apes (2001)
Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan,
Paul Giamatti, Estella Warren, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, David Warner, Kris
Kristofferson, Lisa Marie, Erick Avari, Evan Dexter Parke. Special
Make-Up Effects by Rick Baker. Music by Danny Elfman. Screenplay by
William Broyles Jr., Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, based on a
novel by Pierre Boulle. Directed by Tim Burton. 105 minutes.
Rated PG-13, 3.5 stars (out of five stars)

Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly
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Because the press screening of "Planet of the Apes" was one day past
last issue's deadline, I was afforded the opportunity to see the film a
second time, listen to audience reactions and read a heap of reviews
before writing this piece. The chief complaints of those who disliked
the futuristic adventure appear to be that the movie focused on visuals
instead of substance, that the story was thin, that Mark Wahlberg's
character was colorless and that the surprise ending sucked.

To those people I would like to say – What the hell did you expect?

This is a Tim Burton movie, boys and girls. Tim Burton movies have great
art direction and thin, clunky stories. For the blissfully nasty,
disjointed and underrated "Mars Attacks!" (Jonathan Rosenbaum of the
Chicago Reader and I were two of the only critics in America to praise
the movie) Burton reportedly tossed vintage "Mars Attacks!" trading
cards onto the floor and based his story on the ones that landed face
up.

Burton's re-imagining of the 1968 story of an astronaut that lands on a
planet where apes rule men looks great. The apes, courtesy of make-up
magician Rick Baker, are dazzling and Ape City is a wonder to behold.
Like astronaut Leo Davidson (Wahlberg), the film hits the ground
running, whisking viewers through a head-spinning series of solid
one-liners and engaging vignettes and establishing a sense of thrust
that carries us through the more traditional fight scenes that come
later.

As for Wahlberg, consider what Burton does with his character. From his
start as a filmmaker, Burton has shown his fascination with colorful
misfits (Pee-Wee Herman, The Joker, Ed Wood, the ack-acking Martians,
etc.) and lack of interest in standard issue heroes. So Leo Davidson
spends most of the movie getting the living shit kicked out of him
before the biggest guilt trip in history is dropped on his shoulders. As
for lack of color, remember, Leo only launches into space to get his
monkey back. He doesn't want to lead humanity and he isn't looking for
romance from a pretty, but dull human (Estella Warren) or a dynamic ape
(Helena Bonham Carter, terrific as an equal-rights activist). As a man
who just wants out, Wahlberg is focused, subtle and sly.

The surprise ending provides the requisite shock (and some more dandy
visuals, particularly of the approaching authority figures), but
admittedly isn't nearly as satisfying as the one in the original. For
the original ending to work, we only had to make one simple connection,
for this one, we have to write a whole new screenplay.

The 1968 "Apes" boasted a handful of great scenes, cool looking monkeys,
a deliciously hammy performance by Charlton Heston (who appears
uncredited here as an aged chimp on his deathbed, re-delivering a
classic line) and a killer ending. But viewers had to suffer through
numerous dull stretches punctuated by social and political messages
delivered with the grace of a wrecking ball. The 2001 "Planet of the
Apes" offers a different set of great scenes, much cooler looking
monkeys, fine acting from Wahlberg, Bonham Carter, Paul Giamatti and Tim
Roth, and a not so good ending. It also gives us another chance to
experience the skewed vision of Tim Burton and that's nothing to
complain about.

© 2001 Ed Johnson-Ott

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X-RAMR-ID: 29066
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 241746
X-RT-TitleID: 1108704
X-RT-SourceID: 591
X-RT-AuthorID: 1099
X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/5