Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Roddy McDowall -

Caesar

Don Murray -

Breck

Natalie Trundy -

Lisa

Hari Rhodes -

MacDonald

Ricardo Montalban -

Armando

Rating Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is rather simple. It has one plot flaw (another one of these), a science flaw and one great sequence. Combine these three elements with a mean-spirited script and great sets and what you have is a movie that has good and bad points crowding the screen. Unlike the previous film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, I cannot put aside any ill feelings that I have.

The movie takes place in 1991, 20 years after the events of the previous film. Cornelius and Zira are gone, but they gave birth to a baby named Milo, who has been staying with Armando (Ricardo Montalban) for all these years. For some reason, his name is now Caesar (played by Roddy McDowall). Did Armando change his name from Milo or Caesar, or did screenwriter Paul Dehn make a typo? Anyway, a plague wiped out all of Earth's cats and dogs, and humans decided to turn apes into pets. The apes are easily trainable, so someone came up with the bright idea of making them slaves.

1991 is 8 years after the plague hits the cats and dogs. By this time, the apes seem way too evolved. They resemble the apes of the future, not the apes we see at the zoo. In 8 years, how did apes evolve to the point of walking constantly on two feet? Also, how, in 8 years, did humans revert to such a state where they would use slaves, and whip and beat them for disobeying? There is something pathetic and painful about watching apes being beat up. There are also numerous scenes that show us how apes are conditioned. They fear the word "no," they learn how to pour water, they learn how to wash their hands, they learn how to act as messengers and so forth. The movie never becomes mired in the material, and is never thoroughly painful, but the movie is certainly ludicrous and ill-conceived.

Caesar infiltrates Ape Management, where he discovers the atrocities that the apes go through. The governor of the city, Breck (Don Murray), is all for the exploitation of the apes, but his assistant MacDonald (Hari Rhodes) is more passionate and understanding. He would rather see them set free. Gradually, Caesar begins to build an army of apes, and they gather in the basement of a building, where they stash their weapons and make plans for a revolution. The movie is now playing on our emotions. After witnessing the horrible conditions, we really, really want the apes to get even. They do, and the result is spectacular.

When an ape revolt becomes clear, Breck sends his soldiers into the street. Though Caesar is the only ape who can talk, he can still communicate with his fellow simians, and they ambush the soldiers and engage in a series of well-directed and exciting battle scenes. The last 20 minutes are amazing, and these scenes are what single-handedly saves the movie from being the weakest of the series.

The futuristic sets of the movie are really good. Despite the low budget, the look of the film is slick and impressive. Roddy McDowall does a good job of creating a different kind of character than Cornelius, and Ricardo Montalban plays Armando as an affectionate and caring person. I don't object to the plot, I object to the way the plot is presented. With a few rewrites, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes could have been less mean and far more satisfying.

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