Planet of the Apes

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Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> Can't we all get along?</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Leo Davidson: Mark Wahlberg</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Ari: Helena Bonham Carter</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> General Thade: Tim Roth</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Attar: Michael Clarke Duncan </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Karubi: Kris Kristofferson</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Limbo: Paul Giamatti</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Krull: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Daena: Estella Warren</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Director: Tim Burton</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Thade's Father: Charlton Heston</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: An astronaut crash lands on a distant planet and is imprisoned by human-like, talking apes. Role reversal is in full effect here. Humans, he discovers, are enslaved by the apes, and the astronaut becomes a Moses, of sorts, to lead them to freedom.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) is assigned to a space station in 2029 where he trains chimps to navigate shuttle probes for research. The team detects a major electrical magnetic storm in their path that is transmitting <I>all</I> radio signals <I>ever</I> generated. Protocol requires that a trained chimp guide a small space pod to check out what should be done. After radio contact is lost, Leo decides to go out himself, even though the commanding officer won't send another chimp and does not want to even risk losing another space pod. For sure he does not want to lose a ship and a human astronaut.</div> <bR> <div> The storm throws Leo's pod off course and causes him to crash land in a murky pond. In the process Leo does a time jump into the future. Shortly after he surfaces from his ship, he is caught up in a chase by apes going after runaway humans led by Karubi (Kris Kristofferson) and his daughter Daena (Estella Warren). General Thade (Tim Roth) is looking for a reason to implement Marshall Law (the simian version) so he can get rid of the pesky inferior species called humans. His assistant Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan) is more than ready to help him.</div> <bR> <div> Amidst the apes is a human rights activist, the attractive Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), whom General Thade wants as his lover. Of course, she is not attracted to him and her sympathetic feelings for humans, only strains the relationship between her and Thade.   Limbo (Paul Giamatti), who deals in the human slave trade, blows with the winds of loyalty and when Leo tries to escape, he gets help from Ari and eventually Limbo.</div> <bR> <div> After the hunt is on to find them, the humans are able to distance themselves because Ari is an expert on the underground caves (as in an Underground Railroad to free slaves in the 1800's) and because the simians are afraid of water. They don't know how to swim and are as capable in water as humans are jumping between trees. Leo manages to steal some horses and with his swimming skills, he leads their escape. However, the apes are coming with the force of a small army. Even with their low-tech weapons, they will certainly defeat the humans. Leo must use his superior technical knowledge to fend off being vastly outnumbered by the apes. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: I would like for the dialogue to be a little more appropriate for the intelligence of the characters, both human and apes. When Leo tells his commanding officer to break protocol and send him in a pod, rather than a monkey, by saying "Never send a monkey to do a man's job," I groaned. I know the film is not to be taken seriously, but this has the feeling of a cartoon.</div> <bR> <div> Much has been made about the ending of the film and unlike some critics, I won't dare spoil it for you. I'll just say that it leaves things open for a sequel. It also pays homage to the fact that even the best thought out plans, carefully executed, can set one up for a big surprise causing you to rethink your decisions.</div> <bR> <div> The acting is superb by Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter and Paul Giamatti to the extent that it makes some other performances look like debut attempts at acting. My hat is off to make up artist Rick Baker; the apes seem as real as the humans…in fact the apes seem to have more soul than the humans. </div> <bR> <div> Tim Roth is the personification of evil, on par with his performance in <I>Rob Roy.</I> Carter even makes an ape appear sexy to humans; Bonham-Carter's Ari. You may recall her sensual role in <I>Wings of the Dove.</I> Giamatti provides the outstanding surprise performance as a slave trader by showing a wit that was somewhat overshadowed in his performance with Martin Lawrence in <I><B>Big Momma's House.</B></I> A cameo appearance by Charlton Heston, who was the star of the film that started it all, is well done. </div> <bR> <div> Lackluster performances were given by Michael Clarke Duncan and Estella Warren. Duncan needs to show more emotion and Warren goes through most of the film looking like a deer in the headlights, frightened with her precarious situation. I am possibly being more critical than I should for a science fiction picture about apes that speak English, but I wanted more from the picture.</div> <bR> <div> If there is a redeeming line of campy dialogue that really lifts the film, it's when an ape family is considering taking a young human in as a pet and they are told to "get rid of it by puberty, you don't want a human teenager in your house." Add some social commentary mostly through implication, like the underground railroad, and the comment "Can't we all just get along," plus the normal amount of good luck that heroes tend to have in summer action movies, and <I>Planet of the Apes</I> delivers. The film is a little slow getting going but once it becomes a "road picture" with the apes chasing the humans en masse, it takes off.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> PG-13 (Violence)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Mark Wahlberg: <I><B>The Perfect Storm</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Helena Bonham Carter: Wings of the Dove</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Tim Roth: <I><B>Lucky Numbers</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="299"><div> Kris Kristofferson: Lone Star</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="286"><div> Michael Clarke Duncan: <I><B>The Whole Nine Yards</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="299"><div> Paul Giamatti: <I><B>Duets</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa: <I><B>The Art of War</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="299"><div> Estella Warren: <I><B>Driven</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Tim Burton: Sleepy Hollow</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="299"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="299" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>