`Planet of the Apes' is one those movies in which you can virtually see the downward slope from beginning to end. After a supremely evocative score by Danny Elfman, an introduction that grabs the audience, masterful atmospheric cinematography and a presentation of the premise that maintains our interest, the movie goes downhill. Essentially, the second part of the movie is little more than a cat and mouse story and does not match the expectations set up in the first part The movie has some great make-up effects, and the special effects in which the apes jump or throw others up in the air are very entertaining to watch. It seems that Tim Burton has a `signature' special effect in each of his movies: In `Sleepy Hollow' it was the decapitations, and in `Batman', the flying sequences over Gotham City. I heard many voice comments that they were disappointed by the movie. I believe that's partly because of a mismatch between its main body and the ending: up to the ending, the movie treats the subject matter as a science fiction story with only a touch of social commentary, whereas the ending is very much in the spirit of Pierre Boulle's biting social satire. If the two elements had been better integrated, the ending might not have seemed as abrupt. The movie does deserve credit in that it did not attempt to replicate the well-known ending of the original story, but find its own twist. Nevertheless, as a social fable it is weaker than the original. I still recommend this movie because, despite the drop in the second half, it is entertaining and the cinematography and special effects are well worth watching.
Review of Planet of the Apes
