Movie Reviews

Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake is a pretty dumb movie. When it first came out, there was some criticism surrounding the ending of the film, pointing out the fact that it made no discernable amount of sense. Interestingly, it was later revealed that the writers never intended it to make sense; they simply wanted it to be a bit of confusion-inducing shocker.

Unfortunately, this really dumb idea also happens to be the film's only interesting idea (annoying, confusing, and dumb; but still somewhat interesting). The rest of the movie is a thoroughly uninspired sci-fi action fantasy that tries to cram in way too many awkward "Haha, isn't it really funny that the apes here think that humans are the vile and dirty creatures?" jokes.

Tim Burton is generally a good director, and some of his skill does get to show through here. But even Burton's strongest skills -- his bizarre visuals, like sets and costumes -- don't really stand out too much. He's at his best when he takes otherwise normal settings and adds a twist to them (like in Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Big Fish), whereas Planet of the Apes looks basically like the work of marginally above-average director.

As far as Tim Burton remakes go, bring on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now that one has the potential to be great.