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By: sooz
Date: 7/29/01 10:49:53 AM
# Replies: 10
I'd read the abysmmal reviews, so I wasn't expecting much. This wasn't Crouching Tiger or anything, but it was fun entertainment.
Mark Wahlberg looked suspiciously like Matt Damon in some parts, though.
There were some incredibly funny lines, I thought... like when the human slave trader guy was selling a little girl as a pet. He said "You'll want to get rid of her by adolescence, though. No one wants a human teenager in their house." Muhahahaha!
Response #1
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 7/29/01 11:30:50 AM
There was a special surprise cameo that really took me off-guard, and it made the whole movie for me. Of course, I'll spoil it if I say who or when, so I won't.
I ended up sitting in the midst of a zillion pre-teen girlies, and they were all there to see Mark Wahlberg, which was scary enough. Then I'd laugh at the in-jokes ("Get your hands off of me, you damn, dirty human!"), and they'd all turn to each other and whisper, "What's funny about that?" I felt so old...
Stylistically it's grand. The narrative is confused, but who cares? It's the freaking Planet Of The Apes!
Response #2
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 7/30/01 10:00:03 AM
Exactly.
I went with a group of friends who are notorious for their supposed high-brow appreciation of the movies. Out of five of us, three of them hated it. They thought the science didn't make sense. They thought the plot didn't make sense. They liked the makeup. They liked the ape city. They nitpicked when one thing didn't jibe with the other.
I understand these faults. Yes, the movie has some fundamental flaws and if looked at rationally or too critically, it falls apart on many levels.
That's not what I went to see, though. I went to see an action movie. A popcorn movie. A SUMMER movie. I enjoyed it. Yes, things bothered me about it, but I still had fun. This is not The Usual Suspects or Lone Star or Citizen Kane. It's not supposed to be. It's not an intricate piece of film. It's fun.
I'm a fan of the previous Planet of the Apes movies. I grew up with them as Saturday matinees. Did I make a comparison? No. They're very different films with the same basic plot. Did I enjoy the moments of homage during the new version? Sure, what film geek wouldn't?
So, I liked it. I enjoyed it for what it is supposed to be.
If you can turn your brain off at the door and just have fun at the movies, I recommend you see it. If you can't help but nitpick about the life of a nuclear reactor, stay away.
Response #3
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 7/30/01 12:47:50 PM
I thought it was really well done. Much better than I initially expected it to be. Had a great pace to it, good story, and the actors protraying the parts I think did a womderful job. Overall, I'd say it was very good.
Response #4
By: Da Sissop
Date: 7/30/01 8:06:12 PM
Yaaaay Tim Burton! Okay I'll go see it this weekend.
Response #5
By: /Dev/Null
Date: 7/31/01 3:06:45 PM
I was amazed at how it was trashed in the reviews. It seems the reviews will give Tomb Raider good markings, but Planet of the Apes is a bugaboo.
Good:
Similar to the orginal, but Tim Burton added his own brand of Apey
Bad:
Man the plot holes...
Ugly:
Did anyone else notice the cameo was Homerific? (Homer...from the Simpsons...the dad...the dumb guy that works in the Nuclear power plant...the...oh nevermind)
Response #6
By: Roxanne
Date: 7/31/01 9:23:17 PM
Ape make-up: Good. Very good. Rick Baker should get another oscar for this one.
Story-line: Clever at first, then it did fall apart terribly. (Where did the horses come from, huh?) Hope that didn't spoil anything. Though the very last scene really confused the hell out of me. Huh? Wha?
Marky-Mark: *girlish squeal* He's suuuuch a fox!
Helena Bonham Carter: I never pictured her as an ape, but she did a great ape (GrapeApe GrapeApe!) job.
Human chick love interest: At least she didn't have to *act* at looking vacuous. Sheesh.
Response #7
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 8/1/01 8:09:59 AM
The studio has said that the ending isn't supposed to make sense. It's supposed to be whatever you want it to be until the sequel comes out.
Response #8
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 8/1/01 5:30:50 PM
The ending is a perfect example of the Rod Serling twist ending. I loved it; it was so over the top. The freaking LINCOLN memorial! I just wish the rest of the movie had made a more obvious political statement, as well.
Response #9
By: sooz
Date: 8/11/01 10:15:10 AM
"The shocking ending to Planet of the Apes is shockingly similar to a scene published in filmmaker Kevin Smith's 1998 comic book, Jay and Silent Bob #3. Apes director Tim Burton denies he ripped off the ending. "I do not read comic books. And I especially wouldn't read anything created by Kevin Smith," Burton told the New York Post. Burton once rejected a script Smith wrote for a new Superman film."
(Snagged from USA Today, or Drudge, or something-or-other.)
Re Burton: What a snob.
Response #10
By: WitchHazel
Date: 9/24/01 2:53:31 PM
Okay, for me it was absolutely the WORST MOVIE I've seen, since "Battlefield Earth". (I still can't believe I spent money to see that one...)