Michael Clarke Duncan

PLANET OF THE APES

The fuss is over. The most hyped movie of the summer outside of "A.I." has arrived - "Planet of the Apes," Tim Burton’s re-imagining of the sci-fi classic that starred Charlton Heston as Col. George Taylor. The differences between the two versions are light years apart. The first cracker jack tongue in cheek adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s novel with its message about man’s folly in the face of nuclear disaster was written by ex-Marine and former blacklisted writer, Michael Wilson (co-writer:"The Bridge on the River Kwai"- also based on a novel by Boulle) and Rod Serling, the creator of the timeless Twilight Zone TV series. The heroics were the domain of its director, Franklin J. Schaffner. He had the reputation as a man’s man who served in the O.S.S. in WWII and had years of quality TV behind him. He directed televised plays like "The Twelve Angry Men" and "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" whose characters embodied an heroic spirit, characters who were forced to deal with obstacles foisted upon them by fate. They were men under stress like Col. George Taylor. "Patton" and "Papillon" were still in Schaffner’s future but the title figures would be cut from the same mold. Tim Burton’s version of "Planet of the Apes" has none of the concerns that typified Shaffner’s work or his 1968 version of Boulle’s novel. His has more in common with the pop culture that continues to nurture his talent. This new "Planet of the Apes" has the look and feel of a cartoon.

It’s very easy to visualize the few lines that pay homage to the original as Pop Up captions in a comic book. The action of this "Planet of the Apes" is not unlike those old westerns made by Lone Star and Monogram Studios with John Wayne that continue to show up on American Movie Classics between five and six o’clock in the morning. Mark Walhberg plays the new human who has just blown into town from outer space or another dimension to rescue the human species - the good guys - from domination by the apes - the bad guys. There are narrow escapes, a simian love interest and enough foliage and parched landscape to take the place of John Wayne’s sage brush and western plains. This is the movie’s big turnoff. It boils the original concept of the original "Planet of the Apes" down to its most simplistic level. By doing so, it undermines the few good things the movie has to offer.

"Planet of the Apes" looks stunning in the best tradition of Tim Burton’s films. The actors manage to project the personalities of their characters through the armor of make-up created by Rick Baker. I especially liked Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Krull, the ex Simian General who still manages to live his life with dignity despite being drummed out of the Simian Army Corps for standing up for his beliefs. If I hadn’t been told his name, I would never have guessed that this is the same actor who brings professionalism to every piece of typecasting thrown his way from "Rising Sun" (1993) to "The Art of War" (2000). Paul Giammatti was also terrific as the cowardly sniveling hustler and slave trader, "Limbo." (Anyone worth his salt should recognize that this role is a parody of Peter Ustinov’s Oscar winning part as Batiatus, the slave trader in "Spartacus") Kudos go to Tim Roth for his over the top sneers that made anyone sitting in the back row feel his spittle. Despite the best efforts of these actors and Helena Bonham Carter and Micheal Clark Duncan among others, the real stars of "Planet of the Apes" are the special effects people who made these apes jump from cave to limb and the computer wizards who helped create Tim Burton’s comic book fantasy. The attack by Thade and his Army, running on all fours in the finale is the high point of the movie. Still, all the good work is not enough to lift the movie above the B elements that keep the action going. And the need to try and top the surprise ending of the original only made things worse

For trivia buffs, Charlton Heston makes a brief appearance and spouts a few lines from the original "Planet of the Apes" that won some well deserved laughs. On a more interesting note, David Warner, who plays the Simian father of Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), originally won rave reviews as the title character in the Karel Reisz’s British film "Morgan!" (aka "Morgan - Suitable Case for Treatment") from 1966. He plays an eccentric artist who loses his wife and fights back against convention by acting out as a gorilla.

Copyright 2001

The not so obvious video pix.

"Spartacus" (1960) - The Stanley Kubrick classic about the slave revolt against the Roman Empire. Forget the movie and fast forward to all of Peter Ustinov’s scenes as

Batiatus the slave trader and then think of Paul Giamatti’s Limbo in "Planet of the Apes."

Giamatti nails it.

"Morgan" (1966) - Dir. Karel Reisz. Just one of the many British films of the sixties that poked fun at the establishment with David Warner outstanding as the crazy artist who starts acting like a gorilla to make his point. I would be hard pressed to believe that Tin Burton was not aware of this fact before casting him as a Simian.

Take your pick: "Lucky Texan" - "Man from Utah" - or "Blue Steel" all 1934 westerns with John Wayne (or any other half dozen westerns made by Wayne in the thirties). Many of the B western elements - the chases on horseback - the narrow escapes - the love story - can be found in the latest "Planet of the Apes."

The obvious video pix

"Planet of the Apes" (1968) - Some hokey lines and cutesy clowning were cited in the original reviews as undermining the plot, but this original has endured because the action is top notch, the ideas still thought provoking and the first image of upright apes riding horseback like seasoned Cossacks, hunting down their human prey, still packs a wallop. With Charlton Heston as the human who makes his case with Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans as the apes.

"Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970) - Not nearly as good as the original with James Franciscus travelling through time to look for Col. George Taylor (Charlton Heston). A story about human mutants surviving the nuclear holocaust is thrown in with mixed results The original ape characters save the movie from becoming a disaster. The producers more than made up for it with a terrific sequel.

"Escape From the Planet of the Apes" (1971) - Every bit as entertaining as the original with Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter originating their roles as Drs. Cornelius and Zira. They escape to the past and try to survive in a human world. The movie has a trick ending that works.

"Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972) - Tells how the apes came to power. More time devoted to a better script could have elevated this to the level of its predecessor.

"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973) - Recycled footage from the other Apes movies carry this. For "Planet of the Apes" die-hards only.