It's....Wednesday night...y'all?
First of all, I'm a physical wreck right now. Housemate has had awful back pain and spasms for a week now, and I'm the only one to help her move around the house.
She seems situated right now, so hopefully, not too many interruptions.
Fan. Fucking. Tastic. 💯
It's a great fake out intro. We start with the cliff face where Taylor found the Statue of Liberty. The camera holds the shot achingly until a helicopter zooms past. Then the spaceship in the water. It's deliberately calling back to the first film, but it's inverting everything.
You almost expect Taylor or....whomever the not-Taylor guy was in the last film...to be among the crew.
Instead, it's Zira, Cornelus, and one other. It's a genuine surprise, but also not a surprise at all.
Famously, Heston *hated* Beneath, and wanted the planet destroyed at the end so there'd be no sequels.
TO BAD SUCKER, YOU FORGOT ABOUT TIME TRAVEL PREQUELS!
"Why doesn't she take the banana?"
"Because I *loathe* bananas!"
Zira is a joy in this.
And there goes Dr. Milo.
I realize that the point of his death isn't more than an point to speed the plot along. Even so, it's unfortunate. His death happens so quickly and meaninglessly that it has no emotional impact.
Of course, it's not supposed to. Typically, films do this to emphasize the inherent danger in the situation. Yet here, it rings hollow.
Dear Universe...the actor who played Forbin, Eric Braeden, is in this. I can see why, it's only a year after that film, so he has the reputation as a "scientific" character.
Both Zira and Cornelius are such fun in this film. They feel like a genuine, loving, bickering couple. They have chemistry and it's reflected in their dialog.
"Does the male speak?" asks the board of inquiry.
"Only what she let's me," deadpan, replies Cornelius.
The board of inquiry scene sets the tone for the entire second act. Zira and Cornelius win over the crowd both in the courtroom as well public through the television broadcast.
While the happy welcomes for the "Ape-o-nauts" cast a light-hearted tone, Zira's near slip in the courtroom as to her experiments on the speechless humans from her time is the Chekov's Gun for the Third Act.
It feels like a world-building miss that the Ape civilization didn't have alcohol. They had fruits, and anything with sugar in it will ferment if it rots just right. They should have discovered that as well.
The lack of alcohol feels like USian puritanism working on the plot instead.
Zira's inexperience with it allows Hasslein to record key details about the Earth's future and its destruction.
The first film danced around the racial implications of it's setting.
Yeah, this film is not. It's much more a direct comparison. Cornelius reveals how their species came about from existing simian species after the extinction of popular pet species. After some centuries, they were effective slaves, and rightfully, revolted.
It still feels rather soft-balled here, tuned and edited for a white, affluent audience.
Had to take a break to help housemate start her wind-down for the evening.
Wow, how times have changed. Hasslein wants both Zira and Cornelius dead, framing it as a preservation-of-the-species-bullshit. Even the film's US president is more humane and level headed.
Also, hi Ricardo Montalbán! What in the seven celluloid hells did you fall into to be cast in this!?
The third act ends with the escape of Zira and Cornelius from the army facility with the aid of the two human scientists with whom the formed a rapport. They take refuge in...a circus.
It's honestly both a stupid and a brilliant place to hide. It also sets up the tragic ending of the whole story.
Zira gives birth, and both as a special effects shortcut and yet another Chekov's Gun, the baby is played by an actual chimpanzee.
Sir. Mister Montalban, sir...
Please leave some scenery...
Other actors are hungry, ya'know!
The transfer of my compilation copy of this film is surprisingly good. Also, given the limited number of apes in the film, Zira's and Cornelius' heavy makeup feels more expressive. The eyes have more intensity, the mouth more mobile.
I was seriously expecting this film to end in a more Capricorn One-esque chase sequence. Instead, it's quieter.
Hasselein takes it upon himself to track down -- and kill -- Zira, Cornelius, and the baby. This isn't a thrilling chase scene, or a dramatic hunt-down from helicopters. It feels more like watching a man commit murder.
Perhaps that's the point.
The ending, of course, is more sequel bait. It's revealed Zira switched the baby with that of a typical chimpanzee. Thus, setting up the next film.
So that's #escapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes and that's #wenchwatches
Escape is no more dire than Beneath when it comes to the PotA films. It's much, much more lighthearted in the middle, and doesn't take the pains to emulate it's predecessors beyond a few clever moments at the beginning.
The back and forth between Zira and Cornelius is *the* reason to watch this film. They're actually quite a bit of fun to watch, and do a lot of carrying of the film emotionally.
The baby subplot feels like the weaker part of the movie. It's used to drive the third and fourth acts. Hasselein being a paranoid, murderous, racist asshole tracks well with the underlying metaphor the film is relying on. It actually carries that part off *better* than the first film. Sterilize the main characters forcibly? No way that would happen in these United States, no sir.
Except it did, repeatedly.
It's odd to see such thoughtful messaging in a film about time-traveling, anthropomorphic apes in California. Then again, they are taking Star Trek's greatest feat of writing; using the idea of aliens as metaphors for race, aiming it squarely at white, affluent Americans.
I wouldn't call this great cinema, but it certainly has more going on for it than some sequel-prequel-sidequel things we see these days, and definitely has more to say.
Give it a watch, Fedi, will you?
@socketwench - One of the wierd things about this movie is how close it hews to the original Pierre Boule book "Monkey Planet."
EXCEPT, the apes and humans are reversed. There are even parts of the movie where they lifted scenes directly from the book.
I do love this movie. The 60/70s Planet of the Apes movies are incredibly dire, and are movies I like to watch when I WANT Humanity to burn. This one is still dire, but is at least a lot of fun getting there.
