The original is one of my favorite films, and has the advantage of being the first on film. I guess my love for that one might bias my views a bit toward the remake. I will attempt to be objective J
Plot
In the future, an astronaut goes after his chimp partner, who is has just entered a wormhole in space. His commander is unwilling to go after the chimp, so Wahlburg suits up and goes after him without authorization.
He eventually lands on a strange planet, inhabited by, what else…apes…
Good
The make-up is incredible. The action sequences are great. Acting is pretty good. Scenery is beautiful and right in line with what Tim Burton’s known for. Wahlburg is a good enough actor, and does fairly well in action movies.
The music is also quite good, as are the battle scenes.
BUT...
Not-So-Good
When I saw the previews for the first (and 10th) time, I expected an ’’epic-like’’ movie. One with complicated characters, underlying stories, swelling music. And a hero you could sympathize with.
Planet of the Apes (2001) is not an epic, and it’s certainly lacking compared to the original.
Some examples:
a) The classic first line uttered by Heston, in the original, to the apes was - ’’Get your stinking paws off me, you ded dirty ape!’’. The 2001 version manages to fit it in the movie with a twist, but comes off more as a cheap gimmick, instead.
b) Numerous underlying attacks on organized religion run throughout. Burton has publicly stated his disdain for organized religion, and apparently used this movie as his podium. Again, if you have read my previous reviews (Dr. Doolittle 2), you already know how much I hate sitting through a film that preaches to me.
The ’’bad’’ apes pray to their ’’Heavenly father’’ ape. Talk of the ’’return’’ and prophesies about the ’’god-ape’’ pepper the conversations quite frequently. The ’’good’’ scientist-apes reject these notions as fantasy and bunk, of course. By the end of the movie, the ’’religious’’ apes find what they believed in to be false, and renounce their beliefs. He makes his point to a fault.
The book avoided such obvious overtones, though did touch on religion.
3) The female partner for Mark Wahlburg was a total bore. A cardboard box would have sufficed in her place. You do not care for her in the movie. She doesn’t touch your emotions in any way, which is something great characters do.
4) Also a heavy-handed anti-gun statement was made mid-way through, in the movies only “gunshot” scene.
5) The ending still leaves me wondering what Burton was smoking at the time of filming it. The most ’’left-field’’ ending I could have imagined. Nothing near as imaginative as the original.
Ultimately a very disappointing movie (compared to the hype, and the original), but fairly entertaining.