THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
I don’t think anyone expected any more films about Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes unless they were paying attention to the box office receipts. And with such a straight forward ending for the ending of Beneath, you’d still think there shouldn’t be anything left to explore until 20th Century (Fox) Studios came up with something.
PLOT
Escape from the Planet of the Apes follows the chimpanzee scientist trio of Cornelius, Zira & Milo salvage & repair the spaceship that belonged to the human astronaut Taylor in order to the avoid the destruction of planet Earth. But the shockwave of the planet’s destruction would send the ship through a time warp that takes them to the year of 1973. The apes crash land in the Pacific Ocean and would be taken into the Los Angeles Zoo to be studied by scientists Stephanie Branton and Lewis Dixon. Sadly during their stay, Milo would be killed by a rampant gorilla. The remaining chimps would later be investigated by a Presidential Commission to better understand where they came from. Cornelius & Zira do admit they escaped their timeline to avoid the war but choose to deny meeting Taylor. However, they only choose to privately speak the truth of Taylor and how primitive humans became to Stephanie & Lewis, knowing that the public will panic to the truth. So for the time being, both apes would live their lives as celebrities, being lavished with media attention and things would be fine until Zira becomes pregnant. When this gets the attention of the President’s Science Advisor Otto Hasslein, he becomes determined to know how apes became the dominant species in the future. He gets Zira to tell the truth after getting her drunk on champagne. Her confession becomes enough to convince the commission to be more rigorous of questioning to the apes. They’d be next taken to a military base to get the answers we want. While Cornelius would reveal that Aldo was the first ape to speak and humans’ downfall occurred much later in the 20th century, Zira would be drugged with a truth serum in another interrogation room where she’d admit of knowing Taylor and was dissecting on humans before she met him. After questioning, the ape couple would be confined together. When an orderly comes in to feed them, Cornelius would violently attack him with a tray after calling his unborn child a monkey. However, the blow is proven fatal as it killed the orderly, causing him and Zira to flee. When Hasslein discovers what they’ve done, this gives him the president’s approval that they cannot live among their society, seeing their actions as an illustration of the future. The President orders Cornelius & especially Zira to be sterilized, to terminate the birth of their child. When Brendan & Dixon find the ape couple, they have them briefly hide in a circus ran by a man named Señor Armando (Ricardo Montalbán) in order for Zira to safely go into labor. Giving birth to a son, she & Cornelius agree to name them after Milo. The apes keep moving after this in which Lewis arranges them to hide in a shipyard, but Armando gives Cornelius a gun to fend for his family as they don’t want to be taken in alive. Eventually, Hasslein tracks them down and kills the baby before fatally wounding Zira. Cornelius avenges his family by shooting Hasslein before shot down in return by a sniper. Before succumbing to her wound and dying alongside her husband, Zira drops the baby’s corpse over the side. However, the film ends in a cliffhanger revealing that she swapped babies with another at Armando’s circus and Milo has already begun speaking.
THOUGHTS
Since Beneath was so extravagant, I wasn’t sure what the hell I wanted from the next chapter, so I was positively speechless from what I got here. Director Dom Taylor and writer Paul Dean shook things up with the setting to maintain the unpredictable atmosphere. The makeup done for the apes is still real enough for me to be hooked in like before, rooting for them more than I thought I could (before the rebooted saga). I don’t know if I’d do time travel as a follow up, but it’s better than expected especially since at this point in cinema, the sub genre isn’t overused. It’s a tale where no one was really trying to go back in time, but instead a moment of fate that brings these characters where they were never meant to be. You’re definitely gonna get a laugh or two when seeing talking apes become superstars and wear modern clothing us. Seeing one in a suit is just as surprising as them talking. But in all seriousness, it still feels real that anyone and anything can be famous. It also feels grounded when seeing how quick the humans turn on the apes as that reflects how quick the factors of race and religion can cause people to be against one another for being and/or doing something different. This real life concept is carefully explored with an array of characters you get where they’re coming from. Roddy McDowall & Kim Hunter remain a likable and compatible pair as Cornelius & Zira respectively because they’re characters who are only filled with compassion instead of hate. They can react out of irritation like any of us could, but we know that doesn’t define them. They just want to go on with their lives and live in peace like they did in Ape City before meeting Taylor, but with majority that is the human race not being completely accepting towards them the way they thought they were originally, they accept a dark inevitable. On the bright side, they’re able to protect their child in the long run by keeping him from the horrors of reality. Now arguably, I do believe Brendan & Dixon are human doppelgängers of the ape couple because Natalie Trundy & Bradford Dillman present them with their own compassion of life itself as they defend the apes as much as they could. The true difference they have apart from not being an actual couple is wanting to be neutral of what happens to them until push to shove. They’re in awe of the apes like we are and they just want to understand them but with everyone else being scared of the future, they do the right thing in protecting however they knew they could. Their agony is real when the apes die because they know better than anyone else it should’ve not gotten this far. This was only possible because one man’s good intentions made him a villain in the long run. Eric Braeden gives us a lot of mixed feelings as Hasslein because while he's a guy who doesn't want his kind to be primitive, he becomes reckless with his determination. I mean you should know you've gone down the wrong path if you're not hesitating on killing a baby chimp. So from that alone, he didn't have my sympathies when he dies. I like this movie very much, but it does not excuse the issues I picked up on. Like does getting someone drunk to tell them what you want to hear count? I think not. I'm not a lawyer, but drunk confessions are inadmissible so it should've not worked for Hasslein when doing this to Zira. Also, when exactly did the apes take off during Beneath? We were so focused on what was going on between Brent and the mutants telepaths that we didn't see how Taylor's ship was repaired. Cornelius & Zira may be scientists, but it surprises me they had enough time to leave when they didn't know about the bomb. Milo's death was pretty fucked up to watch, but why didn't the couple try saving him? They wouldn't be in the wrong defending one of their own. And why was a priest freaking out that the two apes were married? It's not a controversial relationship since they're the same race which I know a lot of bigots would complain about. I mean that was one way for the guy to out himself as prejudiced. Also, where were the cameras when the apes had a party at the hotel? The angles don't seem likely as I didn't spot them at all. And lastly, I don't think it was a good idea for Cornelius to have gone higher on the boat when the humans tracked him and his family down. I know their death is inevitable at this point but if he wanted to better his chances, he should've stayed closer. Other than that, this movie is quite a good time. In short, Escape from the Planet of the Apes is the best sequel of the original saga for getting the most creative with its environment at this point of the franchise. if you enjoyed the previous two, it's a no brainer you'll appreciate this one a whole lot.
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