I saw Planet of the

I saw Planet of the Apes last night. I saw it the way I like seeing movies best, a virgin. I had avoided hype, spoilers and news about the movie. I went knowing that it was a remake, and who some of the cast and crew are and that was it. I went with Michael and some of his friends to the 10:10 showing. I was pleasantly surprised by the opening score and I was reminded by the credits that Danny Elfman does all of Tim Burton’s movies. The score provided a nice mix of primal base with the drums and the brass brought in a feeling of cool technology which fit the themes behind the film effectively. The movie unfolded fairly traditionally after that with the first ten minutes of shots establishing things that would be important later in the film. The dialogue was fairly tight and again was there to set the scene for later things in the movie. The editing for the rest of the film seemed to be fairly tight, and it appeared that a whole section of the movie dealing with a love interest between Leo and Daena was cut out. One thing that seems to stand out in contrast to the entire rest of the movie is the ending. Just what that ending means, other than some winking nod to the original, is beyond me.

I think the thing that struck me the most is the incredible makeup on the apes, as well as their movement and cultural phenemenon. The apes make a big deal about the humans bowing before them. This seems to indicate some sort of self-conscious behavior on their part as their bodies have a tendency to bend their own ape heads downward. In a number of scenes you can see the whites of General Thade’s eyes as he is struggling to pull his head up and back and walk more upright. In a number of scenes it’s obvious that touching the chest of the other apes is some sign of friendship or understanding. It’s little touches like that which make the ape scenes interesting. I found the movement of the apes to be relatively authentic looking, except for the unbelievable vaults that General Thade makes before sending out the divisions.

Where the film suffers is in some of the didactic preachiness about racial equality. The movie clearly wants to be an action movie rather than a thoughtful meditation on racial equality. Ari is supposed to represent some enlightened ape seeking equality with the humans, but little character background or thought is put into why that is important to her. It’s just left to the viewer to make the assumption that “that’s the way it should be” and Ari is one of the few to figure that out. Ari’s problems aside, Tim Roth once again shines as an excellent villain. While he does not eclipse his Archibald Cunningham role from Rob Roy, General Thade has a savage ruthlessness to him that seems fitting considering his ancestry in the film. The remainder of the characters, including Leo, are little more than cutouts to push the plot forward.

I must say that this was certainly an enjoyable popcorn movie experience. It is certainly better than a lot of the other summer movies.