Monkey business...
I watched Planet Of the Apes (2001) last night when I got in. I'd got it on VideoCD and after a few mediocre reviews from some of my NY blogger chums hadn't felt like seeing it at the cinema. The film was fine. 'Fine' as in Tim Burton's done way better in the past. Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Batman and Edward Scissorhands are all in my top ten films. I did enjoy it but for a blockbuster I expected a more epic vision. Grander images. More expansive storytelling. Wilder location shots. But sadly many of the scenes were just set in 'another part of the forest' as the Bard would put it. The characters were often predictable and the dialogue almost wrote itself. Sure the costumes looked great, some of the jokes witty ('Cheetah! Cheetah!', 'Damn them all to hell' and 'Why can't we all just - get along!') and the (special) effects pretty slick. But. Where was 'the message'? Where was the politics? The social commentary? Why was Marky Mark so wooden? Why wasn't the sexual chemistry between ape and man satisfied? In the book, the apes are technologically very advanced - why in the film have they only got spears and stones? It's been said before and I can only but agree. The original was better. See it if you have a spare afternoon. Or wait for the video.
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