freemantle_uk

Planet of the Apes is a highly regarded film that has been loved for decades and spawned a successful franchise. The classic era of The Simpsons loved making references to this film. Even people who haven't seen it know the ending and some of the famous scenes like 'get your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape!' It has been a long time since I watched it but I still remember some of the big moments.

Planet of the Apes acted as a precursor to the grim sci-fi movies of the 1970s. Charlton Heston repeated some ideas in Soylent Green since his characters started off as arseholes and had iconic twist endings.

Planet of the Apes had a satirical edge during the trial scene and there was an element of Spartacus since the lead characters were given a mate.

For a modern audience the makeup effects didn't survive the test of time, but considering the quality of the film it didn't really matter. Some moments were bit too slow for my liking since there was a lot of walking that made Lord of the Rings seem like a mad sprint.

After the heights of Kung Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3 was a slight step back. It was still a fun family film and tried to capture the magic of Kung Fu Panda 2 by having an emotional story about Po finding the hidden village of pandas, connecting with his birth father and his culture. However, the threequel copied the structure and journey of the previous film since Po had to answer the question 'who am I' and needed to learn about his past. Kung Fu Panda 3 also lighten things up after Kung Fu Panda 2 and it acted as a halfway house between the first film and the first sequel in terms of tone. It was the Return of the Jedi of the Kung Fu Panda trilogy.

Kong: Skull Island was the second part of the Monsterverse and brought in America's greatest monster. Whilst its predecessor, Godzilla (2014) was aiming to be a serious disaster film, Kong: Skull Island simply wanted to be a fun popcorn film and on that front, it succeeds. There were some great special effects and monster action: Larry Fong's (Zack Sydner's regular cinematographer) influence was felt during action sequences like the one at gas vents.

As well as the action, there was a horror feel to film with some characters getting some gruesome deaths, especially for a film rated 12. Kong: Skull Island did feel a bit too similar to Peter Jackson's King Kong but that was also a fun blockbuster so hardly a bad reference point.

I'm surprised that Jordan Vogt-Roberts didn't get to direct more blockbusters since he did such a good job with this one.