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Early in Planet of the Apes, one of the ape generals opens a human's mouth, peers down his throat, and asks, "Is there a soul in there?" The same question could be asked of the movie itself. 

The original Planet of the Apes, starring Charlton Heston, was released in 1968. Despite (or, maybe, because of) its over-the-top acting, the movie was an enormous hit, spawning several sequels and even a television show. But it also raised timely issues like violence, racism, and the atomic bomb. The 2001 version is content merely to provide good looking actors, beautiful sets, and fantastic effects. Not that we expected deep philosophical musings in a summer flick, but a little emotion would've been nice. 

Mark Wahlberg (Perfect Storm) plays Leo Davidson, an air force pilot and scientist on a space station deep in the solar system. His research involves teaching genetically-enhanced chimps to fly a space pod. When one of the hairy creatures veers off course, Leo disobeys his superior commander, steals a pod of his own, and goes out to retrieve his ape. While flying through an electro-magnetic storm, however, Leo is blasted not only off his own course but also several centuries ahead, where he finally crash-lands on a jungle planet. 

The first thing Leo sees is a beautiful supermodel named Daena dressed in skin-tight clothes. Naturally, he follows her, but it turns out he's not the only one chasing after Daena. A bunch of apes riding on horseback are hoping to capture the full-lipped beauty and stage their own version of the catwalk. What beasts! To make things worse, they're rounding up all of the humans they can find and selling them as slaves. Fortunately for our hero, he finds himself in the same cage as Daena. Complicating matters slightly, her father (a disheveled-looking Kris Kristofferson, Lone Star) is also locked up with them. 

Leo is much more concerned with getting off the planet than getting together with Daena, though. In fact, he seems genuinely disinterested in his species' plight. Which leaves the emotional core of the film to Ari (Helena Bonham Carter, Wings of the Dove), a chimp with a keen interest in human rights. She purchases Leo and Daena and then helps them as they flee to what Leo believes is a rendezvous point with his ship. Pursuing them are the tyrannical ape General Thade (Tim Roth, Reservoir Dogs), the gorilla Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan, Green Mile), and a legion of other primates. 

In contrast to the original movie, the new Planet of the Apes doesn't spend much time in the simian city, and yet director Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow) lovingly uncovers various aspects of the apes' civilization--from the silly (toupees and dentures) to the mundane (little ones playing various games) to the serious (political and philosophical arguments). Since Leo is so single-minded and the other humans are largely window-dressing, this means the apes are the most compelling characters in the film, even if they're not the ones we're rooting for. 

Rick Baker's magical makeup work contributes enormously. The latex masks and intricately detailed hairpieces are so realistic and allow the actors so much freedom of expression that you might forget you're actually watching human actors in monkey suits. Similarly, the production design of  long-time Burton collaborator Rick Heinrichs is equal to his impressive work in last year's Sleepy Hollow. The sets are fantastic and believable. And Danny Elfman's score and Richard Anderson's impressive sound effects  envelop you. You feel as if you've entered another world. 

Now all we need is a reason to care. Unfortunately, Mark Wahlberg doesn't deliver. Even worse, I don't think it's his fault. Though the script is actually somewhat intelligent and the dialogue reasonably interesting, the
story is genuinely dull. Leo is so self-absorbed and single-minded in his desire to get off the planet that he becomes genuinely unheroic. Worse, his lack of empathy for his friends and his lack of antipathy for his enemies drains any emotion or feeling we in the audience might have. Will he get off the planet? Will he fall in love (with either Daena or Ari)? Will the humans be free? Those are the conflicts the movie tries to raise, but I
lost interest halfway through. Whatever you think about Charlton Heston, he made you want to watch till the end.  

J. Robert Parks 7/30/2001