Planet of the Dopes

Rating: 5/10 (16 September 2012)

WOW! This movie grossed almost half a billion dollars? No wonder I seldom go out instead watching this stuff on our 70" screen at home for free. Would I have felt like a monkey if I had paid for this sentimental piece of treacle. It started out OK. Pretty good and of course Lithgow playing the dottering old fool was believable. It progressed well until we got into the hackneyed monkey versus keeper scenario, with Brian Cox trying his best to make a totally forgettable role...interesting. The gorilla had a better part. Everything after that became totally predicable. I guess modern audiences don't need a real plot. A lovable creature, a kind master, a dash of romance between the humans, a car chase or two...throw in a helicopter and you'll take off. Really this was pretty pathetic. Franco tried; Caesar tried; even the proboscis monkey tried. It was hopeless. Too muddled. As for the shoot off plot about creating a world pandemic, don't tell me Caesar comes back and invents a cure...PLEASE. PS. Lovely redwoods. Used to go to Muir woods often.