PLANET OF THE APES (2001) / **
Directed by Tim Burton. Screenplay by William Broyles Jr, Lawrence Konner, and Mark D Rosenthal, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth. Running time: 121 minutes. Rated PG for frightening scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on August 15th, 2001.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: In the near future, astronaut Leo Davidson (Wahlberg) is lost in an electrical storm in space, and crash lands on a planet where apes are the dominant lifeform. Davidson comes to believe that they key to his escape lies in the remote Forbidden Zone. Allying himself with a ragtag band of humans, as well as human-friendly ape Ari (Bonham Carter), Davidson tries to reach the Forbidden Zone while being pursued by the malevolent ape leader Thade (Roth).
Review: Tim Burton is well-known for lending his films a distinct visual flair; in concert with a good script, this often produces a genuinely memorable moviegoing experience (such as 1999's "Sleepy Hollow"). Sadly, Burton's "re-visioning" of "Planet Of The Apes" is long on appearances but short on anything else. This is little more than a by-the-numbers action flick with an inordinate amount of money thrown at it. "Apes" is wonderful to look at; as good as the make-up was in the original, Burton's team has done an even more spectacular job in bringing the title creatures to life for the modern version. And there is much promise in an exciting early scene in which Wahlberg is captured by apes employing tactics that feel genuinely simian. But afterward, the picture degenerates into a standard chase story; there's even an annoying kid sidekick to complicate matters. The revelations which occur in the Forbidden Zone are likely to surprise very few, and a literal deus ex machina strains the bounds of coincidence much too far. Burton's biggest problem, though, is that he creates few characters of interest: Wahlberg is bland and unengaging, the villains are stereotypes, the other humans mere ciphers. Even Bonham Carter's unusual (and sometimes disconcerting) Ari simply services the plot. A pointless, tacked-on twist ending cements the banality of the whole exercise.
Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
| Shannon Patrick Sullivan | shannon@mun.ca | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/
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