Planet of the Apes (2001)

Planet of the Apes is a 2001 science-fiction action-adventure film directed by Tim Burton and starring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, and Estella Warren and is a remake of the Planet of the Apes franchise. While it was successful at the box office, the film received mix-to-negative reviews from critics, audiences and fans alike.

Plot
Astronaut Leo Davidson whips through space and time to a world where apes and gorillas rule the humans. Captured, he is nurtured by Ari and hunted by General Thade as he leads a rebel group of humans and chimpanzees in search of his downed craft. This is his only hope of escape and, ironically, the planet's only hope of shaking off the tyranny of the gorillas, allowing peaceful humans and chimpanzees to co-exist.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Very confusing plot. For example, in the original film, the humans acted like animals so it made sense that the apes would treat them like animals. Here, the apes are giving a very questionable characterization, some of the apes do act like animals, but some of them don't while others just don't speak, making it more confusing for us to understand why the apes treat them like animals.
 * 2) Bad acting, especially from the casts of Mark Wahlberg.
 * 3) It is extremely boring most of time.
 * 4) This is one of the movies that started Tim Burton's decline in directing movies.
 * 5) Since they wear all that makeup over them, whenever the apes speak their voices sound restrained and awkward, such as Helena Bonham Carter who's delivery of lines is like William Shatner.
 * 6) While most of the apes makeup looks good, all the female chimps look like the who's from the live action Dr Seuss movies.
 * 7) Leo is seen as "unusual" in the film for no reason, especially since some humans act like humans. So Leo acting like a normal human is pointless. In the original, the humans acted like animals which made the main character stand out from them because he acted differently.
 * 8) Terrible in-jokes.
 * 9) There is a scene showing apes having intercourse, and they make weird noises during it. It’s disturbing and stupid.
 * 10) The ending. Leo Davidson crashed landing on crashed on what appeared to be Earth, in Washington D.C., and what happens next? He looked up to see the Lincoln Memorial was now a monument in honor of General Thade. A swarm of ape police officers and reporters descended on Leo, who wondered just what had happened to his world, in fact, it was presumed to be a sequel baiting.
 * 11) During the action scenes, there's some noticeable wirework.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The costume and most of the makeup designs look well-done.
 * 2) Nice special effects.
 * 3) Brilliant soundtrack from Danny Elfman.
 * 4) Tim Roth's performance as General Thade is so over the top it's entertaining.

Critical response
The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and fans alike. Much criticism focused on the confusing plot and ending, although Rick Baker's prosthetic makeup designs, visual aspects and score were praised. On Rotten Tomatoes, it had an approval rating of 44% based on 158 reviews, with an average rating of 5.51/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This remake of Planet of the Apes can't compare to the original in some critics' minds, but the striking visuals and B-movie charms may win you over.". On Metacritic the film has an average score of 50/100 based on 34 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Box office
Planet of the Apes was released on July 27, 2001 in 3,500 theaters across the United States and Canada, grossing $68,532,960 in its opening weekend. This was the second-highest opening weekend of 2001, behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It had a record opening in Brazil. The film went on to gross $180,011,740 in the United States and Canada and $182,200,000 elsewhere, for a worldwide total of $362,211,740. Planet of the Apes was the tenth-highest-grossing film in North America, and ninth-highest worldwide, of 2001. Despite its financial success, 20th Century Fox chose not to produce a sequel, and later rebooted the franchise in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, ten years later.

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Trivia

 * Different versions of the film were in development since 1988. Directors involved in pre-production over the years included Alan Rifkin, Sam Raimi, Phillip Noyce, Chuck Russell, Chris Columbus, Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, Peter Jackson, and Albert and Alan Hughes. In 1993, Oliver Stone, who was initially considered to direct the film, has signed on as Executive Producer and wanted Terry Hayes to re-write his script and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. James Cameron had signed on to executive produce and write the film but dropped out in 1997 after the success of Titanic.