Return to 'The Planet of the Apes'?

I'm a massive fan of Planet of the Apes. Since the very first time I heard The Simpson's musical rendition of it as a child ("I hate every ape I see/From chimpan-A to chimpan-Z!") I have been fascinated with its ideas about accidental time-travel; the role reversal of homo sapiens and the simian species; and, of course, the future of our planet. Naturally then, I'm excited by the prospect of another film set in the dystopian world of The Planet of the Apes and with Fox's reboot/origins story in cinemas it seems an appropriate time to pay homage to one of the greats of science-fiction cinema. 


The film is driven by another of cinema's greats; the unforgettable Charlton Heston. Heston was an actor who could consistently deliver on an epic scale and in Planet of the Apes he was no different. Although his portrayal of Taylor (the man who crash-landed on a distant planet almost 2000 years into the future) can appear slightly nonchalant at times, he is believable as a man who has just about given up on humankind. What makes Taylor so interesting though is that as soon as his stature as a human being, and therefore his human rights, is threatened he is up in arms. What follows is Taylor's fight to prove to his ape counterparts that humans are intelligent and deserve to be treated as such. As a result the famous reveal at the end of the film (it was earth all along!) leaves Taylor a broken man:
"You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!"

It is more than just Charlton Heston's performance though that makes The Planet of the Apes such a classic, it is the myriad of reflections on humanity that are fascinating to encounter. The ancient scrolls of ape lore, as recited by the infamous Dr. Zaius, label humanity the "harbinger of death" and they are correct. Exclusively as a species, we destroy our habitat and the environment around us on a great scale. Therefore, despite the best efforts of Taylor and Zira (an ape protester for human rights) the film leaves us wondering whether the world was any better off before the dominion of the apes. 


Etep