Astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) crash lands into a big pile of boring.
Whatever.
I never saw this movie when it came out. I remember the marketing for the movie and even the embarrassment reached me. I read the novelisation and remember that being underwhelming.
This might be the first time I have watched this movie from beginning to end.
Why did Tim Burton make this movie? I could not think of a reason why this movie could draw him in.
I remember the marketing for the movie and even the embarrassment reached me.
I have not read the original novel, but from what I understand of the concept, the ape civilisation of the novel is more advanced, making the satire more overt.
That kind of framing feels better suited to Burton than this generic sci fi action story.
The director’s inertia extends to the cast.
As the villainous Thade, Tim Roth seems to have one setting - rage. There is no definition to this character to make him interesting - he is just a bigot.
The best performance in the movie, and the one element of the movie that feels vaguely of a piece with the ethos of the previous movies is Paul Giamatti as the enslaver Limbo - he seems fully realized as a simian enslaver who is neither punished nor redeemed.
Helena Bonham Carter has some fun - she seems to play Ari as romantically interested in the human hero, which is… different.
Rick Baker’s makeup is remarkable - one wonders what the rebooted movies would look like with a similar approach.
In the lead, Mark Wahlberg is a total blank.
The character is shapeless, and Wahlberg has no angle.He does not seem that bothered by anything.
He is a good metaphor for the movie as a whole.
There are no gut punching revelations or sense of an ironic take.
The only unique dynamic the film has is Bonham Carter’s infatuation with Wahlberg, which might have just been a performance choice.This is grasping at straws but this vaguely sexual subtext feels like the most Burtonesque element in the movie.
Estella Warren’s character is just as colourless as Linda Harrison’s in the original, with a flatter performance.
What a meaningless movie.
Thankfully this is still the floor for the franchise.
Related
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
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