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Planet of the Apes
***
Cinema
Releases - August 17, 2001
Certificate 12. 119 minutes. Directed by Tim
Burton. Written by William Broyles Jr, Lawrence Konner, Mark D. Rosenthall;
based on the novel by Pierre Boulle. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena
Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, Estella
Warren.
A classic it may be, but I've long thought that
the 1968 version of "Planet of the Apes" deserves to be remade. The thrust
of the movie is perfectly satisfying, but there are some details that could
be improved upon; slightly better makeup effects, for example, or an explanation
of how the apes learned to speak English.
The irony of Tim Burton's new "Planet of
the Apes" is that it triumphs in all the areas the original picture
required improvement, and still is not as good. Burton has changed the heart
of the story, and not for the better. No longer is this a boldly imaginative
piece of sci-fi that incorporates commentary on animal rights and satire
of human politics; it's a traditional story of rebellion with a lot of action
and chases. I recommend Burton's movie as solid entertainment, but it could
have been more.
The premise this time round is essentially the
same as in 1968. Mark Wahlberg takes the place of Charlton Heston, playing
a spaceman who ends up crash-landing on a futuristic planet where simians
rule and humans are kept as slaves. Burton's writers do change a few set-up
details, for reasons that become clear in the denouement; they also reject
any thoughts of letting the story unfold gradually. From the moment Wahlberg
arrives on hostile territory, he's running around looking for ways to round
up other humans and escape. He makes a couple of short speeches about how
animals are not the ones who rule where he comes from, and how he's going
to reclaim his freedom, and that's about as profound as he
gets.
Presenting the hero this way makes him a convincing
military man, but Heston's portrayal was more engrossing. The 1968 picture
had its heart in the battles of wills between the human and his captors --
it had argument, discussion and a trial scene, and earned the right to build
into action. Burton's vision is basically a collection of scenes with humans
on the run from armies of apes. Aside from chase scenes, the species stick
to their own camps.
The lack of interaction is a detriment, but the
characters within the simian military are just about good enough to make
their scenes hold up without it. Tim Roth plays the snarling, hate-filled
General Thade. Michael Clarke Duncan is his sidekick, Colonel Attar, a noble
soul whose problem is that he has blindly believed everything the authorities
ever taught him. Paul Giamatti does his thing as a slimily amusing dealer
of human slaves, David Warner plays a smug senator, and there's even a cameo
appearance by Heston, who in real life is chairman of the National Rifle
Association but here plays a senior ape warning Roth of the destructive power
of human weapons.
"Planet of the Apes" is an extremely well made
film. It misses the boat by dumbing down its story, and also by refusing
to replicate some of the classic moments of the 1968 film. The immortal line
"Get your hands off me, you damned dirty ape!" has been changed to "Get your
hands off me, you damned dirty human!", and the ending is taken from the
novel, which is as clever and powerful as that of the original movie, but
less viscerally striking. Thankfully Tim Burton has a keen visual eye and
a good sense of how to keep a film moving -- "Planet of the Apes" is lively,
colourful and energetic, and on that level, it works.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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