Planeta małp

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)

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)

The film has an incredibly gloomy screenplay that stubbornly clings to one plotline, which, on its own, wouldn't be enough for even 20 minutes. And unfortunately, even Tim Burton wasn’t able to breathe life into it through visual finesse. Although the film dazzles with its grand production design and impeccable masks, the narrative emptiness inevitably plunges the viewer into boredom. The film has unquestionable strengths, including the mentioned ones such as the casting, camera work, and excellent music by Danny Elfman. However, there is still a lingering feeling that the two-hour runtime should have been trimmed by at least a good 30 minutes. This would have left us with an audiovisual extravaganza in which Burton's great sense of humor would shine even brighter, as evidenced by the excellent final scene and the closing credits remixed by DJ Paul Oakenfold. (04.12.2005)

There's no murder of the original here. Mark Wahlberg gives an appealing performance as the captain of the ship, the special effects work all throughout the film, and there's even an interesting variation of the final twist that worked for me. Except that this is simply a "remake of Planet of the Apes", which brings with it slightly higher expectations. (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)