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Planet of the Apes (2001)
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You've probably already read that this is not a remake of the 1967 sci-fi classic, but, in director Tim Burton's words, a “re-imagining”. It begins, like the original, with an astronaut (this time Mark Wahlberg) crash-landing in the future and being pursued and captured, with other savage-like humans, by apes on horseback. So far, so similar. What's immediately different is the ape make-up. Though John Chambers's 1967 prosthetic work was ground-breaking, multi-Oscar winner Rick Baker has upgraded it in style, so that actors such as Tim Roth (as arch-villain General Thade) and Helena Bonham Carter (sympathetic chimp activist Ari) can truly emote and express through the latex. That's the good news. The bad news is the story. It's slight (basically capture-battle-escape), littered with convenience, and Wahlberg has no backstory or emotional journey. It's another expensive blockbuster that short-changes on narrative. Nevertheless, the final twist ending (one of five that were shot, apparently) works well. But whose idea was it to “quote” iconic lines from the original film? That's not what I would call a re-imagining. AC
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| Contains violence. |
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Tell us what you think
Email us at rtfilmcomments@bbc.co.uk to tell us what you think of this film. Your comments may appear in Radio Times magazine.
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Running time
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114min
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Country of origin
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US
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Genre
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Science-fiction Adventure
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Original language
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English
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Screenplay
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William Broyles Jr, Lawrence Konner, Mark D Rosenthal [Mark Rosenthal], from the novel La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle
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Theatrical distributor
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20th Century Fox
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UK cinema certificate
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12
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UK cinema release date
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August 2001
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UK video release date
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February 2002
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Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC |
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