"Planet of the Apes" is a joyless, soulless and utterly pointless remake of the 1968 sci-fi classic.  The original film had two strong elements going for it:  its expansive visual style and its playful spirit.  Both qualities have been effectively eliminated in Tim Burton's update, along with the sense of wonder that came, thirty-three years ago, when the material was still innovative and fresh.  What viewer can forget the time he first saw that stunning final shot of the earlier version, with a weary Charlton Heston coming upon the remains of the Statue of Liberty - then bellowing in outrage at the tragic reality hitherto unrevealed to both him and us?  Burton, not wanting to be a slavish devotee to the original (and not wanting the audience to know everything about the story in advance of entering the theatre), attempts a similar "surprise" ending here, but the execution of it is so ludicrous, confused and clumsy that all one can do is scratch one's head and giggle in bemused befuddlement.
Much of the effectiveness of the original "Planet of the Apes" lay in its deliberately paced buildup.  The early stretches of the film, in which Heston and his fellow astronauts wandered the desert in search of life, helped immensely in generating an atmosphere of suspense and mystery.  In the new version, however, the lone hero, Thade (Mark Wahlberg), crash lands on the planet and, almost instantaneously, finds himself caught in this strange world in which evolution seems to have taken a reverse course, where apes speak and have dominion over docile humans - though they're not quite as docile as they were in the first version since in this edition the humans speak, rendering absurd the idea that the apes would consider humans to be a subspecies.
Also, in the original version, much of the time was spent focusing on Heston's attempts to convince the apes that he was every bit as smart as they were.  Thus, much of the pleasure of the film came from the fact that there seemed to be a duel of wits going on between apes and humans - a contest that often took the form of high-spirited, clever and even witty dialogue exchanges.  For all the ludicrousness of its premise, the original "Planet of the Apes" was not a DUMB movie.  I wish one could say the same for the remake.  The plotting in this version essentially boils down to little more than an extended and distended chase story, with apes racing madly after humans from one dimly lit locale to the next.
And here we come upon another problem with the movie - one it shares with many modern action flicks, actually, especially those made by Burton.  It is simply shot too dark.  One of the qualities that distinguished the original film from most of the sci-fi adventure films that came before it was the near-epic feeling created by its beautiful wide screen images of the desert setting.  These shots lent a visual impressiveness to the potentially childish material and helped to bring an aura of seriousness to the proceedings.  In Burton's version, however, the visual style is often dark, cramped and confining, not at all conducive to the sense of majesty and awe that Franklin Schaffner's version afforded.
Wahlberg is a bland substitute for Heston who, dressed only in a loincloth and hissing virtually every line through clenched teeth, seemed to sense the camp potential hidden beneath the story's surface - a fact not acknowledged by the stolid Wahlberg (or by Burton for that matter).  How we miss the charming personalities of Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter as the sympathetic ape characters.  Poor Helena Bonham Carter, in the Hunter role, doesn't get to recite even one vaguely amusing line.
It seems amazing that a movie made thirty-three years ago would take itself so much less seriously than a film made today.  One would expect that a filmmaker like Burton, known for his ability to find humor in the most macabre of situations, would be the last director to take such a humorless, deadpan approach to material like this.  The original "Planet of the Apes" managed to combine the elements of originality, suspense, humor, irony, surprise and visual acuity to create a work of lasting value and interest.  My prediction is that copies of it will still be on video store shelves long after this remake has hit the bargain-price recycling bins.
"Planet of the Apes" is a joyless, soulless and utterly pointless remake of the 1968 sci-fi classic. The original film had two strong elements going for it:  its expansive visual style and its playful spirit. Both qualities have been effectively eliminated in Tim Burton's update, along with the sense of wonder that came, thirty-three years ago, when the material was still innovative and fresh. What viewer can forget the time he first saw that stunning final shot of the earlier version, with a weary Charlton Heston coming upon the remains of the Statue of Liberty - then bellowing in outrage at the tragic reality hitherto unrevealed to both him and us? Burton, not wanting to be a slavish devotee to the original (and not wanting the audience to know everything about the story in advance of entering the theatre), attempts a similar "surprise" ending here, but the execution of it is so ludicrous, confused and clumsy that all one can do is scratch one's head and giggle in bemused befuddlement. Much of the effectiveness of the original "Planet of the Apes" lay in its deliberately paced buildup. The early stretches of the film, in which Heston and his fellow astronauts wandered the desert in search of life, helped immensely in generating an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. In the new version, however, the lone hero, Thade (Mark Wahlberg), crash lands on the planet and, almost instantaneously, finds himself caught in this strange world in which evolution seems to have taken a reverse course, where apes speak and have dominion over docile humans - though they're not quite as docile as they were in the first version since in this edition the humans speak, rendering absurd the idea that the apes would consider humans to be a subspecies. Also, in the original version, much of the time was spent focusing on Heston's attempts to convince the apes that he was every bit as smart as they were. Thus, much of the pleasure of the film came from the fact that there seemed to be a duel of wits going on between apes and humans - a contest that often took the form of high-spirited, clever and even witty dialogue exchanges. For all the ludicrousness of its premise, the original "Planet of the Apes" was not a DUMB movie. I wish one could say the same for the remake. The plotting in this version essentially boils down to little more than an extended and distended chase story, with apes racing madly after humans from one dimly lit locale to the next. And here we come upon another problem with the movie - one it shares with many modern action flicks, actually, especially those made by Burton. It is simply shot too dark. One of the qualities that distinguished the original film from most of the sci-fi adventure films that came before it was the near-epic feeling created by its beautiful wide screen images of the desert setting. These shots lent a visual impressiveness to the potentially childish material and helped to bring an aura of seriousness to the proceedings. In Burton's version, however, the visual style is often dark, cramped and confining, not at all conducive to the sense of majesty and awe that Franklin Schaffner's version afforded. Wahlberg is a bland substitute for Heston who, dressed only in a loincloth and hissing virtually every line through clenched teeth, seemed to sense the camp potential hidden beneath the story's surface - a fact not acknowledged by the stolid Wahlberg (or by Burton for that matter). How we miss the charming personalities of Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter as the sympathetic ape characters. Poor Helena Bonham Carter, in the Hunter role, doesn't get to recite even one vaguely amusing line. It seems amazing that a movie made thirty-three years ago would take itself so much less seriously than a film made today. One would expect that a filmmaker like Burton, known for his ability to find humor in the most macabre of situations, would be the last director to take such a humorless, deadpan approach to material like this. The original "Planet of the Apes" managed to combine the elements of originality, suspense, humor, irony, surprise and visual acuity to create a work of lasting value and interest. My prediction is that copies of it will still be on video store shelves long after this remake has hit the bargain-price recycling bins.