Beneath the Planet of the Apes ended with Charlton Heston’s Taylor activating the doomsday bomb and in turn, blowing up planet earth. How can the series continue if the entire world has been blown to hell? What if Cornelius and Dr. Zira we’re not around during the gorilla’s war with the subterranean mutants and instead fixed up Taylor’s spaceship to escape from the planet? What if once Cornelius and Zira made it to space, the shockwaves from the earth blowing up sent them back in time to 1973? It’s absolutely absurd, makes no sense whatsoever, and only deepens the head scratching plot holes. At the same time though, it’s a stroke of genius. Having the story basically be an inversion of the original film made for an amusing fish out of water scenario that makes due with its budget constraints. Cornelius, Zira, and Milo crash land in the ocean and we are almost immediately thrown into this strange situation where talking intelligent apes are now in our contemporary world. The first act is fairly lighthearted and humorous with Cornelius and Zira being greeted by the largely unsuspecting human race. The first 30 minutes have a bright color palette and more playful tone than the previous entry which works to the film’s advantage. First off, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter had a tough task to pull off here, being essentially the lead characters and only talking apes in the film. McDowall and Hunter maintain the same irresistible chemistry the two had in the original (Roddy was temporarily recast in Beneath) and carry the movie with effortless charm. Doctors Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy) are fine additions to the series, showing empathy and understanding towards the apes while the President's science advisor, Dr. Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden) displays a sense of apprehension about the time traveling apes. Hasslein can surely be seen as a villain but after wrongfully getting Zira drunk to reveal the truth about the future, Hasslein’s motives to prevent the extinction of the human race by aborting Zira’s baby become somewhat fathomable, albeit cruel. Hasslein’s conversation with the president about what to do with Zira’s baby is a fascinating one, as Hasslein convinces the president to have Zira and Cornelius taken into custody along with the baby aborted. It’s clear that President Willard had different intentions from Hasslein by trying to keep the public happy in treating the apes as guests rather than prisoners. It is also interesting to note that contrary to Hasslein, the president was willing to allow the timeline to play out accordingly, thus having man subjugated by apes and the earth being destroyed. It’s these themes of predestination and fate that make ‘Escape’ an incredibly unique entry in the franchise. Among those lofty themes, the film is grounded by McDowall and Hunter’s wonderful performances, with Cornelius and Zira representing the best qualities of humanity in both their wittiness and their compassion. Things get dark and the inviting tone is stripped away once Cornelius accidentally kills the orderly and he escapes from custody with Zira. Ricardo Montalban as circus owner Armando is one of my favorite supporting characters and him coming to the aid of Cornelius and Zira gave the film’s second half a much needed sense of warmth. Armando is also a man of faith and doesn’t believe that destiny should be altered as it would go against the word of God. Hasslein’s persistence to alter the future ultimately leads to the shocking and grim deaths of both Zira and Cornelius, which is a punch to the gut as I love these characters so much. In a brilliant twist though, Zira switched her baby Milo with a baby chimp from the circus, thus preserving the intelligent ape’s bloodline and solidifying the fact that fate cannot be changed and humanity is doomed. The final shot of baby Milo saying “mama” over and over again is a disturbingly ominous way to end the film and hauntingly paves way for the next installment. Overall, Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a far different film than the first two in all the right ways, with a healthy dose of heartwarming comedy and witty satire while never losing sight of the darker more thought provoking themes and mindful social commentary that made the franchise so beloved and timeless.
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