Movies
Planet of the Apes
The "unique personal vision" of Tim Burton comes down here to the burgeoning field of science-fiction graphics: a new illustrated edition of an old familiar classic. (Rather dark and murky illustrations, too, with a forest-primeval feel to deepen the timeless mythicality of it all.) Sure, the ape makeup, to say nothing of the beetly battle armor, is an improvement over the 1968 screen treatment, but so what? (Myth doesn't demand verisimilitude.) Mark Wahlberg, meanwhile, whose notion of heavy emoting consists of breathing through an open mouth, is the farthest thing from an improvement on Charlton Heston. (The latter, content these days to be a joke, has an unbilled cameo in a monkey mask, reprising the curtain lines of the original.) The moral sententiousness, even in the absence of Rod Serling on the screenwriting team, remains very much the same. As does the lameness of the humor: "Extremism in defense of apes is no vice," "Can't we all just get along?" and the like. More fundamentally, the entire concept of an evolutionary inversion -- talking apes and caged humans -- is too much a novelty to bear a remake, just as it couldn't bear four sequels. And the new and different surprise ending is apt to wring from the viewer a befuddled "Huh?" where the old one wrung an "Ah!" Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, Estella Warren. 2001.
— Duncan Shepherd
Reader Rating:
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
A forest planet for apes DOES make more sense than a sandy desert world, tho this is one of the few tweaks to the original that qualifies as any sort of improvement. Putting the "origin" story in the hands of goth cartoonatic Tim Burton is almost as misplaced an idea as it was to have Rod “Twilight Zone” Serling script the original version (very few of Serling's ideas, words, and social commentary actually made it onto the screen, despite him usually being cited as "screenwriter").
Perhaps this franchise should instead be restarted with a do-over, as in the second Hulk movie that attempted to cleanse the public’s palate of Eric Bana(l) – how cool would it be to see Remake of the Apes by Terry Gilliam and the crew behind Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth? Ooooh, or now that Sam Raimi is off Spidey Four….
By jayallen 12:32 a.m., Feb 4, 2010 > Report it
Oddly better on the small screen than in theaters, where the emptiness of the cinematography, dialogue, and soundtrack was far more expansive and, thus, glaring. And, by the end of the first hour, annoying.
This is UNlike the original, which simply must be enjoyed on the big screen to appreciate what it accomplishes in a way that no subsequent ApeFest has managed.
How can you say you’ve truly experienced the original Planet Of The Apes if you’ve never been deafened by a room full of people who erupt like socker hooligans when Charlton Heston growls “Get your sticking paws off me, you d*ed dirty ape!”
In any event, this week an upcoming PREquel to the Apes saga was announced, Rise of the Apes, to feature "state of the art" CGI animation and live action. I think this ground was pretty well covered in the TV series, but if the Tim Burton remake established one thing, it's that any story can be made into an ape story, as long as you can pay the FX bills ----
By jayallen 5:04 a.m., May 17, 2010 > Report it
Wasn't the desert landscape supposed to reflect the aftermath of the nuclear holocaust that gave rise to the apes? I don't know enough about the timeline physics of it to comment on whether a forest environment would or could grow back in the span of time it would take for apes to also make the leap depicted in the movie.
By CuddleFish 11:21 a.m., May 17, 2010 > Report it
Virtually every Apes tale ever told - from the movies thru the TV show, cartoons, and comic books - has been compiled into one "definitive" (albeit speculative) Apes Chronology timeline on this website: http://www.theforbidden-zone.com/info...>
A fascinating browse!
By jayallen 12:13 p.m., May 20, 2010 > Report it
Jay..great read...i saw a piece about the history of comic books on the HISTORY CHANNEL this week and was mesmerized by all of what i didn't know about their inceptions
on My Space my moniker was ~*~Wonder Woman~*~ a poetry blog that no longer exists..when i saw her comic persona as a bondage queen in the episode i laughed like crazy at my picking that name
By nan 3:06 p.m., May 20, 2010 > Report it
I saw that special, it was well done - the Wonder Woman covers (and interiors) were SO heavy on bondage and phallic designs that the early editions are considered fetish publications now! Her kinky magic lasso was actually made from Aphrodite's girdle (I sh-t thee not) --- checkout "Bound For Feminism" -- http://hoodedutilitarian.blogspot.com...
Judging from the Rise of the Apes announcement, the premise of this "prequel" is fatally flawed from the outset - they want the rise in ape intelligence to stem from genetic engineering gone awry. By changing the root of ape ascension from societal to scientific, it becomes just another mad scientist's BEM.
The most powerful and integral aspect of the original conception is that apes wrestled control of the planet by way of avenging oppression, with the only scientific boost (presumably) being the introduction of Cornelius and Zira's DNA into the 20th century gene pool. It would have taken MANY generation for Caesar's offspring to effect any notable genetic influence over the species, so the entire Conquest and Battle was launched by regular old apes, angered by their oppression and inspired by Caesar - no human scientific/genetic manipulation required.
And James "Green Goblin" Franco as the star?! Franco was great in Freaks and Geeks, but I suspect he'll be little more than the next Marky Mark Wahlberg when it comes to the Apes franchise ---
By jayallen 11:01 p.m., May 23, 2010 > Report it
If you are willing to buy a house, you will have to receive the <a href="http://goodfinance-blog.com/topics/credit-loans">credit loans</a>. Moreover, my mother usually takes a collateral loan, which is really firm.
By BernadetteFranks 3:46 a.m., Dec 28, 2011 > Report it