“Granted, the mere mention of Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes usually has film fans preparing to fling their faeces. But in a bid to be a bit more half-full than half-empty (and to mark 20 years since its release), allow me to sing a few praises of the picture, and talk about how the much-maligned ‘President Thade’ ending had its plus points. Inevitably, this is a very spoiler-y article.

After 20^th Century Fox announced the new film – that it’d been trying to get off the ground for some time – director Tim Burton famously began referring to his upcoming Planet Of The Apes movie not as a remake, but as a ‘reimagining’ of the beloved 1968 sci-fi classic, which gave fans of the film the faintest glimmer of hope. Much like today, a spate of remakes and reboots (the Gus Van Sant shot-for-shot remake of Psycho in particular) left a sour taste in the mouth for many in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so the idea of a rethought version of …Apes from the director of Beetlejuice and Batman sounded somewhat intriguing. After all, ‘from the imagination of Tim Burton’ was once enough to make a film must-see.”

Follow this link to read the rest of my Planet of the Apes piece for Film Stories.