Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

20 years after Zira and Cornelius' deaths, the United States has migrated towards a totalitarian state where following a plague that wiped out cats and dogs, domestication of the ape gradually gave way to their enslavement. In the year's since, Milo (Roddy McDowall) hides the fact he can talk as he resides in the care of altruistic circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban) who has kept the fact Milo can talk a secret while keeping him safe from the world. As Milo and Armando travel to one of the cities where slavery and abuse of apes is commonplace, Milo inadvertently alerts the state to his presence and finds himself separated from Armando and hiding in with his enslaved kind as Governor Breck (Don Murray) attempts to roust his whereabouts. Through a series of events, Milo takes the name Caesar and winds up in the stewardship of Breck where he begins to sow the seeds of revolution that will give rise to the planet of the apes.

With the success of Escape from the Planet of the Apes yielding healthy box office on a reduced budget, producer Arthur P. Jacobs moved forward on yet another sequel with returning screenwriter Paul Dehn this time focusing on Zira and Cornelius' surviving child from the end of the last movie. The film thanks to its low budget managed to yield a decent profit (but continued the trajectory of less and less box office gross not even cracking $10 million) and would prove sufficient for one final film. Critical reception tended to be mixed with some appreciating the unique turn by returning actor Roddy McDowall who got to play a harder edged character, while many were beginning to feel the series had run its course and this latest entry was little more than an excuse to get more mileage out of the established costumes and sets. There are certainly ideas at play in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, but they're often lost among the bombastic excess that feels like it's lacking in focus with character development.

Much like the setup of the previous film, you'll have to allow a lot of leeway in order for the premise to make sense as while the inciting incident of the plague that wiped out cats and dogs may have been established in the prior film, it's no less silly here and is a far cry from the air of mystery and intrigue we got from the original. While I have no problem with the series exploring how we got to the state showcased in the original film, you get the sense the filmmakers are working against ever tightening purse strings who are placing more emphasis on cost effectiveness over narrative or logical cohesion. In spite of those plot hurdles the movie's vision of the future of Ape enslavement and Caesar's revolution is well realized especially from Roddy McDowall who gives some really strong expressions of emotion especially in the first two thirds. As with the previous entry Conquest feels like it's rather hamfisted on exploring the nature of rebellion and revolution and issues I had with the prior entry are still present and arguably worse.

We also see a major issue in the third act where a major restriction of this series comes front and center and that the make-up's lack of differentiation among the apes makes it hard to care because Caesar is often lost among the crowd. While the Ape make-up was undeniably impressive for its time, the fact prior films either had them balanced against human protagonists (like the original or Beneath) or limited the number of apes (likes Escape) helped to keep the characters from getting lost in the scenery. Outside of Caesar (and maybe Caeser's mate Lisa to a degree) the rest of the apes don't have any character and just blend together due to the restrictive nature of the make-up in allowing different characters.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes isn't a terrible film and certainly tries to have commentary on the nature of revolution and racial relations in the United States, but it also sees a lot of these ideas presented with less clarity and focus than they ought to be especially on the character side. Serviceable, but shows that the series is approaching the limits of what current technology and budget can accomplish.