Simian Cinema Symposium

by Thomas M. Pender

At least once a year while I was growing up, The 4:30 Movie on Channel 7 in Detroit would show the five original Planet of the Apes movies, in a row, from Monday to Friday.  It was called “Apes Week.”  I found the series exciting and interesting.  I watched the 1974 TV series with my dad, and I had the “Planet of the Apes” lunchbox from the fourth through the sixth grade.

I’m a bit of a fan.

When Tim Burton’s re-imagination of the original film came out, I had mixed emotions.  The make-up technology was amazing, and I was impressed that the film actually ended just as Pierre Boulle’s novel did, but the clearly Burton-esque look seemed to taint the concept a bit.

Now, we have the non-Burton follow-up, Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  The big difference here is that the human actors portraying the chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans have been replaced by computer-generated apes.

I should state here unequivocally that I am completely against computer animation of any kind.  I believe in stuntmen and cartoonists.  Someone with a degree in computer science should not be able to “make it seem like” Spiderman is zipping through the air.  Also, computer graphics are recognizable.  It takes away from the scene and the moment when an actor portraying Peter Parker pulls a mask over his head, and then quite obviously turns into a video game icon.

These rants aside, I was impressed with the look of the film.  Yes, it was obvious that no actual ape was used in the creation of the film.  Still, the pretend apes did not seem so cartoony.  They were apish enough that I could concentrate on the plot.

I was also impressed that the plot included plenty of elements from 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, including the speaking and superintelligent ape Caesar, “descendant” of time warped superior apes from the future.  There were also several small elements that paid homage to the film’s origins, including: a quick non-ape movie clip of Charlton Heston, the late star of the first two original films; an orangutan character named “Maurice,” a nod to Maurice Evans, the original portrayer of orangutan scientist Dr. Zaius; a worker in an ape research facility who parrots Heston’s two great lines from the 1968 film: “It’s a madhouse!” and “Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”; a human nicknames an ape “Bright Eyes,” which recalls an ape’s nicknaming Heston’s character that same moniker; and Caesar plays with a toy Statue of Liberty, which evokes the unforgettable image at the end of the first original film.  I love such respectful puzzle pieces.

The plot is intelligent, the actors convincing, and the action engaging.  Aside from my computer graphics personal issue (which, admittedly, most viewers will not share), I really enjoyed this film, and I do look forward to more adventures in this world.