Review- Escape from the Planet of the Apes

How do you refresh a series that feels stale? According to Planet of the Apes, set it in the 70's on Earth. Yup.

After blowing up the planet in the last film, the producers were obviously a little unsure where to go so they all took just a little bit of acid and came up with the solution of just sending them back in time to the seventies. It consists of this weird three act structure where the first act is essentially the first half of Planet of the Apes only reversed, the humans trying to get used to the apes. Following this, the second act is like The Man who Fell to Earth but with apes and I mean that fully as it is pretty surreal and their attempts at fitting in are just bizarre and a little uncomfortable. Then the final act is the real escape as Zira and Cornelius outrun the authorities who want to kill their unborn child as they have realised that the apes are from the future and the birth of a smart ape will signal the downfall of man. During this, they go visit a carnival where another ape is born because hey, Ricardo Montalban is in this and he needs to be in some slightly odd setting. Zira and Cornelius are eventually gunned down with the child in an abandoned shipyard along with their child except, yes, you guessed it, they did the old switcharoo with their child. It feels insulting waiting for the twist when you wait a couple of sentences but it really takes the piss when you wait half the film for it.

Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter have to take the brunt of the acting force here under their plastic masks yet again. They do a good enough job like they always do and make the most of some weird moments, including a bunch of the weird interactions with humans from the seventies. Natalie Trundy returns as well and as a legit human this time, she has something to do and does a decent job. With these films, there's few amazing performances so just know that this is actually pretty solid praise. Clear stand out of this film for the brief time he's in it though is easily Ricardo Montalban of Wrath of Khan fame. His performance is hammy in the way of Heston and for the few scenes he has, he's an absolute joy to behold. Fortunately, his performance is able to be enjoyed further in the next film but that's for tomorrow. For now, enjoy his charming moments.

Part of why I don't like this film as much as the second or fourth one is because it feels pretty much like a retread of the first film. Central to it is the fish out of water element where Zira and Cornelius are outsiders because they're apes, from the future and able to talk. It can also feel a little odd as it is a pretty large tonal change from the last two films as we've now changed from sci-fi film to film with vague sci-fi elements, with only the presence of talking apes acting as the sci-fi. Once you get over that though, there is some enjoyment to be had in how much the director has these characters revel in the seventies. It's gratuitous in its celebration of this era but that's kind of fun and it makes a film about talking apes into an odd time capsule of sorts.

It would be hard for any film to be as weird as Beneath was but this film does what it can by taking the franchise back in time and setting up the world we came to love from the first two films. The performances remain strong and the twist, while obvious, has exciting implications for things to come. Plus, it's the film out of all of them that is the most deliberately funny which I certainly appreciate. It's a little less enjoyable than Beneath but still deserves the score of a