Planet of the Apes

Everyone expected a serious sci-fi movie in the spirit of Schaffner’s original and Tim Burton tricked them by turning the subject into a joke. The film’s biggest stars are not the humans, but the apes, and the conclusion isn’t shocking and thought-provoking, but popcorn fun. The spark in the love triangle between the American hero Mark Wahlberg, the chimpanzee with beautiful eyes played by Helena Bonham Carter, and simple Barbie Estella Warren is as irresistible as Tim Roth is repulsive in the role of General Thade. The film offers brilliant technical execution, verve and action, as well as a helping of ironic humor. I applauded and laughed with gusto at the end. And I almost fell in love with the eyes of Carter’s chimpanzee character, who was prominently featured on my desktop for months after the premiere. Don’t take this film so seriously. Times are changing and not everyone needs to see the story of Planet of the Apes the same way Schaffner did. (27/05/2002)

Someone has already written about it before me. The masks and overall production are absolutely captivating, but when the story is bad, there's simply nothing that can be done about it. Burton could have tried as much as he wanted, but nothing better could have been squeezed out of this script. The ending tried to surpass the original film, which was a great courage, and now the creators should repent. (06/08/2014)

Properly as wacky as you’d expect from Burton, with flawless sets and make-up effects, and a surprisingly bland Wahlberg. Overall, I would have liked it, but the incredibly idiotic final half hour, including a very weird ending, put a damper on everything. According to the reviews, not many people understood it, and I appreciate the ending in the older classic version all the more. (11/05/2003)

No killing of the original is taking place. Wahlberg acts as the captain of the ship sympathetically, the tricks work throughout the entire duration, and even an interesting variation of the final twist pleases. It's just simply a "remake of Planet of the Apes" and that brings a slightly higher expectation. (23/06/2006)

More of a parody of the original film. Visually stunning, with some of the typical elements of Tim Burton. The action is decent and the make-up effects are truly masterful. The plot, on the other hand, lacks drive and not much actually happens overall, to put it simply. Helena Bonham Carter and Mark Wahlberg are pretty decent, but the most captivating by far is the demonic Tim Roth. The ending is at least peculiar, and there are also a few clear blunders and mistakes, but despite all this, Planet of the Apes remains a skillfully made summer blockbuster with typical genre attributes. Whether this mess was intentional will likely remain a mystery forever, but I must admit that I was quite entertained. (30/04/2006)