Following the tragic ending of Escape from the Planet of the Apes, mankind has created an Orwellian police state in which apes are slaves to humans. A lengthy exposition dump from Armando tells viewers that a plague from space wiped out all dogs and cats thus prompting humans to take up apes as pets, and eventually slaves. With baby Milo from ‘Escape’ having grown up, too big for the circus, he has now been transferred to Los Angeles to be auctioned as a slave. With Zira and Cornelius dead at the end of the previous film, their baby Milo was the only one to continue the smart ape bloodline. Contrary to the lighter tone of ‘Escape,’ ‘Conquest’ is a meaner, leaner, and far angrier apes experience. With the humans now acting as merciless wardens and apes as slaves, the sociopolitical commentary of the civil rights movement are on full display. Let’s get the obvious out of the way. This was the film that solidified Roddy McDowall as the face of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Whereas Roddy’s portrayal of Cornelius was the smart, intuitive, and introverted archeological scientist, as Caesar, Roddy’s performance is fierce, fearless, and charismatically rebellious. Ricardo Montalban returns as circus owner Armando and his role in this is as Caesar’s secret protector serves as an effective catalyst for Caesar’s motives. Early on in the film, Caesar and Armando witness the police brutally beating a helpless ape slave and we get the first sign of pushback from Caesar when he exclaims “Lousy human bastards!” It is in this moment that Armando has to do the heavy lifting in taking the blame for Caesar’s outburst, as the human witnesses are quick to point fingers at Caesar as the one responsible. Don Murray’s Governor Breck is one of the strongest villains in the series, with his cold hearted, cruel, and authoritarian rule over the enslaved apes mirroring the racism and prejudice that was prevalent at the time. In contrast to Breck’s bigotry, we have Hari Rhodes and Breck’s assistant, MacDonald, who grows sympathetic towards Caesar and the struggle of the apes. MacDonald is another excellent addition to the series, as he develops an unexpected alliance with Caesar over the course of the film after witnessing the heinous treatment the apes have been through. Being a black man who had lived throughout the civil rights era, MacDonald saw the atrocities that the apes were being dealt and came to help aid Caesar’s revolution, despite having a far more levelheaded approach to what the consequences should be for the human slavers. When Armando is interrogated about Caesar’s outburst by inspector Kolp in a tension filled sequence, at first it appears that Armando is free to go. However, in order to leave, Armando must pass a final fool proof lie detector test that ultimately leads to his unfortunate and sudden demise. Armando’s death was the perfect tragic event to incite Caesar’s revolution and it pays off in spades. I love the sequence of Caesar going around Central City giving encouragement to the enslaved apes to rise up and dismiss their forced labor duties as Roddy’s facial expressions are powerful enough to elicit such a response. The third act of ‘Conquest’ is arguably the most exciting of the original pentology, as Caesar leads the apes to revolt against the fascistic humans. The camera work, costume design, and even set design all feel minimalistic and “cheap” in comparison to the previous entries, but I would argue much of this adds to the grittiness of ‘Conquest’s’ story of ape rebellion. The unrated version is definitive, showing all the bloody violence and vicious killings during the ape revolution that was toned down in the theatrical cut. Caesar’s ending speech during the climactic fiery riot is powerful and iconic, as he engages in ideological warfare with MacDonald on whether or not to have mercy for his former slavers. The gorillas end up giving Breck a much deserved fatal beating and Caesar vows to lead the apes to freedom and have humans subjugated to servitude under ape rule. The riots, the fires, the passionate speech from Caesar, it’s all clearly an allegory for the racism and fascism that was so prevalent during the mid-60’s. While the film could’ve been longer and gone into some of these themes a bit more, it does a great job with what it has to work with. Overall, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is yet another criminally underrated and sorely misunderstood Apes sequel, one that bravely explores racism, slavery, militarism, authoritarianism, revolution and firmly establishes Roddy McDowall’s Caesar as the unmatched leader of the Planet of the Apes franchise.
Comments