Just watched 'Planet of the Apes'
Jun. 5th, 2003 12:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estepheiaHah, that's the second fairly recent big budget box office failure film I've liked: Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, the other being Daredevil. In both cases I came to appreciate actors I haven't so far paid attention to, namely Mark Wahlberg and Ben Affleck.
In both cases I can see why other people don't like them. Doesn't stop me from liking them myself.
If a film sets out to be a great movie, trying to dazzle with its clever message (like e.g. Matrix Reloaded with its destiny drivel) and falls flat, I feel entitled to a bit of finger pointing and harsh criticism. If a film sets out to be good entertainment and amuses me with pretty pictures, good acting and nice characters I tend to forgive minor flaws like predictability.
Actually, Planet of the Apes was unpredictable in that I only ever knew one or two minutes beforehand what would happen next (although more or less continuously throughout the film). That's not too bad. I hate it if I see things coming half an hour early.
Anyway, POTA had amazing apes, good use of camera, decent direction and it was amusing, if somewhat anvil-y. The ending I could have done without. Obviously, the astronaut risked undoing the whole timeline by going back, wiping out humans and apes alike, those people he just said goodbye to. I think he should have stayed put. Oh well.
I've seen worse. If a film like Matrix Reloaded has a script that sucks because all the oodles of money had to be spent on actors and special effects, then I actually get cross. And MR was utterly boring, while POTA was decent entertainment. Maybe it's because Mark Wahlberg wasn't forced to warble on about destiny and time and blah blah blah.
I bought myself some 2nd hand DVDs yesterday, namely Minority Report and About a Boy. I haven't bought DVDs in ages. My DVD allowance usually gets eaten up by all the Buffy and Angel DVDs.
It's past midnight and it's still hot. Today I really wish our house had A/C. I'm practically melting.
In both cases I can see why other people don't like them. Doesn't stop me from liking them myself.
If a film sets out to be a great movie, trying to dazzle with its clever message (like e.g. Matrix Reloaded with its destiny drivel) and falls flat, I feel entitled to a bit of finger pointing and harsh criticism. If a film sets out to be good entertainment and amuses me with pretty pictures, good acting and nice characters I tend to forgive minor flaws like predictability.
Actually, Planet of the Apes was unpredictable in that I only ever knew one or two minutes beforehand what would happen next (although more or less continuously throughout the film). That's not too bad. I hate it if I see things coming half an hour early.
Anyway, POTA had amazing apes, good use of camera, decent direction and it was amusing, if somewhat anvil-y. The ending I could have done without. Obviously, the astronaut risked undoing the whole timeline by going back, wiping out humans and apes alike, those people he just said goodbye to. I think he should have stayed put. Oh well.
I've seen worse. If a film like Matrix Reloaded has a script that sucks because all the oodles of money had to be spent on actors and special effects, then I actually get cross. And MR was utterly boring, while POTA was decent entertainment. Maybe it's because Mark Wahlberg wasn't forced to warble on about destiny and time and blah blah blah.
I bought myself some 2nd hand DVDs yesterday, namely Minority Report and About a Boy. I haven't bought DVDs in ages. My DVD allowance usually gets eaten up by all the Buffy and Angel DVDs.
It's past midnight and it's still hot. Today I really wish our house had A/C. I'm practically melting.
