Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Planet of the Apes (2001) - Some entertaining fun in Burton's mixed bag sci-fi actioner

11/25/2022

Planet of the Apes (2001) - Some entertaining fun in Burton's mixed bag sci-fi actioner

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Star Mark Wahlberg fronts a group of human/simian characters looking our way on this gloomy and crowded poster for Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes

In 2029 an astronaut crash-lands on a planet where apes are the dominant race and humans are their subordinates.

Planet of the Apes is written by William Broyles Jr. (Cast Away (2000)), Lawrence Konner (The Many Saints of Newark (2021)) and Mark Rosenthal (Mighty Joe Young (1998)), adapting Pierre Boulle's (The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1952)) same-titled 1963 novel, previously adapted for the same-titled 1968 masterpiece by Franklin J. Shaffner and its 4 sequels. The film is directed by Californian master filmmaker Tim Burton (Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)), whose 9th feature it is.

It is an atypical venture for Burton, who fails to make a really good new interpretation of the fascinating source material.

Mark Wahlberg (All the Money in the World (2017)) as Captain Leo Davidson, this version's human on the ape planet, doesn't muster what it takes to make his character anywhere near interesting. The fight scenes lack dynamic energy and don't bring anything new, which is a big problem for an action movie.

An important quality, however, are the good-looking ape costumes, prosthetics and makeup, which helps us to accept the simian supremacy surprisingly fast. Especially Tim Roth (Broken (2012)) and Paul Giamatti's (Win Win (2011)) ape performances are fun. The reversed world, where apes are in control (over us), is also still thrilling, and especially the film's first half is quite good.

The Apes franchise: War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) - Reeves and Co. astonish with truly spectacular film that finishes the Ape circle

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) or, Ape 3.1: Mad Apes!
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape!
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) or, The Ape Uprising
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - The enjoyable if farfetched second Apes sequel
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - Decent follow-up to the SF milestone
Tim Burton: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) - Burton and a fine cast bond with auspicious material

Dark Shadows (2012) - Fun, flamboyant vampire romp is a celebration of culture
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Wasikowska is the perfect lead for Burton's visual wonderland
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) or, Tim Burton's Bloody Theatrics
Corpse Bride (2005) - Impressive, loud, hollow, dark doll fairytale
Ed Wood (1994) - Burton's sticky biopic with strenuous Depp

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker
Beetle Juice (1988) - Burton and team serve one of the best horror comedies ever

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 100 mil. $

Box office: 362.2 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.62 times its cost)

[Planet of the Apes was released 26 July (Hong Kong, Puerto Rico) and runs 120 minutes. Development of a new Apes movie had been ongoing since the late 1980s with a long list of talent involved including Adam Rifkin, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Oliver Stone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phillip Noyce, James Cameron, Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay and the Hughes brothers, - before Burton was finally hired. Wahlberg was paid 8 mil. $ for his performance. Production was rushed with shooting taking place from November 2000 - April 2001 in Australia, Arizona, Utah, California, including in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and in Hawaii. Burton insisted that the apes be created with practical effects and not CGI. The film opened #1 to a 68.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#5), grossing 180 mil. $ (49.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 24.7 mil. $ (6.8 %) and France with 20.2 mil. $ (5.6 %). It was the 10th highest-grossing film of the year in North America, and the 9th highest-grossing in the world overall of the year. The film was nominated for 2 BAFTAs and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The film earned an additional 40.8 mil. $ on video rentals in North America in 2001 alone. Plans for a sequel never came to fruition, - and Burton stated that he "would rather jump out a window" than direct a sequel to the film, - as the franchise was instead rebooted for a new trilogy starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Burton returned with The World of Stainboy (2000-01) and theatrically with Big Fish (2003). Wahlberg returned in Rock Star (2001). Planet of the Apes is rotten at 44 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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11/25/2022

Planet of the Apes (2001) - Some entertaining fun in Burton's mixed bag sci-fi actioner

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