The 2001 "Planet of the Apes" is not so much a remake of the film from the 60's, but more of a different interpretation.  The story starts out with the main character, Leo (Mark Wahlberg), on a spaceship with many other scientists and various types of monkeys.  When Leo's monkey gets chosen for a mission in space aboard a smaller pod and gets lost, Leo sneaks into a different pod to go search for his monkey.  He goes thru a time warp, landing hundreds of years into the future onto a planet where Apes rule and mankind are treated like slaves.  Leo's only ambition is to get off this world and back to his ship but becomes the unofficial leader of the slave humans.  The rest of the film is about his quest to get off the planet as well as to free the humans from slavery by the Apes.

      The first and last thirds of the movie move very fast with lots of action and great special effects.  The middle portion takes it time letting the viewer know the characters, both ape and human.  The movements of the actors in ape makeup are fantastic... with leaping, swinging and running like monkeys in a zoo.  The film has great action, lots of good humor, and exciting tension.  It's a fun, action-packed science fiction film with lots of great scenes of Apes doing stuff.

      The part of the movie that many people will either not like or will be confused by is the ending.  Like the 60's film, the ending is a moral statement and is open to different interpretations.  Anybody familiar with Burton's darkly themed movies will not be surprised by the atmospheric final ending.  I really liked the dark, open-to-interpretation ending and that it wasn't all explained to the viewer.  This lets your imagination run wild with theories instead of neatly explaining every detail.  My only criticism is that Wahlberg is too stiff and laid back to play a role that should be a strong action, leader type of guy....somebody else should have starred in this movie.

      I thought this movie was really great and enjoyable.  Four POPS from me on this one!  

      James ( 2 out of 4 pops ) 

     To be honest, I have never seen any of the previous "Planet of the Apes" movies, so this one was totally new to me, yet totally stupid.  Sure, the effects are nice to watch, and the Apes look authentic, but there are too many holes in the plot to fully follow this movie.  "Planet of the Apes" started out pretty good, but the way that it ends makes the viewer realize just how bad the plot is, and how many gaps in the plot there are.  The makeup and costumes were very believable, but the plot brings the movie down to Earth or whatever planet it was.

      Patsy ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      I really enjoyed "Planet of the Apes".  The effects were great, the music was great (Danny Elfman...need I say more?), the make-up was incredible, the cinematography was great, and I thought the story was very interesting.  I wasn't bored one bit and I loved almost every second of the movie....I say "almost every second" because I thought there were a few cheesy moments.  In particular, when Leo is first caught by the Apes and Attar says to him, "Get your stinking hands off me you damn, dirty human!".  I thought that was pretty lame, but I appreciated the meaning behind it.  So, overall, "Planet of the Apes" is a wonderful movie that I would rank right up there with "Gladiator" (as far as epic adventures go).  Definitely see this film in a theater if you get the chance and don't be swayed by the negative reviews that some people gave it.  Judge it for yourself. 

      Liz ( 1 1/2 out of 4 pops )