Tim Burton, known for his visual style, delivers yet again with Planet Of The Apes (POTA), but the film is lacking in virtually every other aspect, from the thinly drawn characters, the barely-there script, to the shockingly bad/incomphensible ending. I'll start first with the character development. There is none. Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg)is so one dimensional that at no point did i care if he ever got off the planet and back to, well, whatever and whomever. His entire time is spent throwing out cliched lines instead of being awed, inspired, terrified, or confused of his surroundings. Any emotion would have worked. As for the humans who live on the planet, I'm not sure what their problem was, they werent savages, they outnumbered the apes supposedly, they could communicate at the same level as the apes (unlike the original movie), so why exactly were they living in the hills scared for their lives. Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) and General Thade (Tim Roth) are by far the most interesting, and well acted, characters. Miss Carter brings a sensual aspect to her character that is very appealing (yes, i know shes playing a simian, but it doesnt seem to matter). While Mr Roth plays Thade deliciously evil and cunning, and his ape-like movements are a sight to see.
I was especially disappointed with the relationship between Leo, Ari and Daena (played by model Estella Warren, who is way to beautiful here to pull off a role as a jungle woman). There are obvious hints of attraction between Ari and Leo, yet these scenes go absolutely nowhere in developing the awkwardness of it all. The script doesnt go beyond yearning glances, which is a shame. The last half hour of the movie was basically the standard action plot. The movie builds up to an inevitable war between the humans and the apes, with Leo devising this absurd plan to stun the first ranks (out of thousands of CGI created apes) with the remnants of his old ships ignited fuel tanks. Never mind the fact this would only eliminate maybe 5 percent of the total forces they are up against. The final conflict is never exciting, but then how could it be when we have no emotional investment in the characters.
I will not discuss the "surprise" ending, except to say not only is it not surprising, it doesnt make sense, and i defy anyone to explain it.
In fact, i read an interview with the higher-ups involved in this fiasco, and they revealed that the ending isnt supposed to make sense, its supposed to leave the viewer confused and guessing. Well, thats just what i want after watching this for two hours, and ending that insults the viewers intelligence by admitting "we didnt even care enough ourselves to give you a plausible ending." Thank you Hollywood. And thank you Tim Burton, for reminding us once more that classics should be left alone and time honored. If you're going to remake a movie, remake a bad movie. In fact, remake this remake.
I was especially disappointed with the relationship between Leo, Ari and Daena (played by model Estella Warren, who is way to beautiful here to pull off a role as a jungle woman). There are obvious hints of attraction between Ari and Leo, yet these scenes go absolutely nowhere in developing the awkwardness of it all. The script doesnt go beyond yearning glances, which is a shame. The last half hour of the movie was basically the standard action plot. The movie builds up to an inevitable war between the humans and the apes, with Leo devising this absurd plan to stun the first ranks (out of thousands of CGI created apes) with the remnants of his old ships ignited fuel tanks. Never mind the fact this would only eliminate maybe 5 percent of the total forces they are up against. The final conflict is never exciting, but then how could it be when we have no emotional investment in the characters.
I will not discuss the "surprise" ending, except to say not only is it not surprising, it doesnt make sense, and i defy anyone to explain it.
In fact, i read an interview with the higher-ups involved in this fiasco, and they revealed that the ending isnt supposed to make sense, its supposed to leave the viewer confused and guessing. Well, thats just what i want after watching this for two hours, and ending that insults the viewers intelligence by admitting "we didnt even care enough ourselves to give you a plausible ending." Thank you Hollywood. And thank you Tim Burton, for reminding us once more that classics should be left alone and time honored. If you're going to remake a movie, remake a bad movie. In fact, remake this remake.