Planet of the Apes

     Planet of the Apes tells the story of a planet in the future where Apes are the masters and humans are slaves.  But then, a human (Mark Wahlberg) from around our time hits an electromagnetic storm and is transported to this planet.  Helena Bonham Carter plays an ape, Ari, that thinks humans should be treated equally and Tim Roth plays an ape, General Thade, that wants to see humanity wiped out.  The acting is good, but it is nothing special.  It keeps me engaged, but I have certainly seen better acting in other movies.  You are drawn into the story, but I still think that Burton could have done a better job at doing so.  I still feel like I am watching a movie on a screen rather than being part of it and in the same room as the actors.  The script, like the acting, is adequate, but it would not be worthy of an academy award or a golden globe nomination.
     In the movie, you can see multiple of the ten central themes.  This includes man vs. nature, as the premise of the movie involves a man battling the apes that overpower them.  Another is individual vs. society.  This is not seen solely in the humans, but it is very apparent in Leo (Wahlberg’s character).  Leo spends the whole movie fighting the apes that subjugate humans and are the ruling society of that planet.  In addition to this Ari also tries to change the society so that human and apes are equal to each other.  She fights for what she believes even though few, if any, other apes agree with her.  Overall, I would give this movie a 2.5 out of 5.  It is worth watching once or twice, but not much more than that.