Beneath The Planet Of The Apes - Not bad (for a sequel)

The original Planet of the Apes film was not just a classic, but - more importantly - a SUPRISE hit. Probably no one expected a sequel to be made, let alone so soon. And, as far as sequels go, it's quite good, even if it is a mixed bag.

It takes places literally straight after the events of the first film and we see the original film's hero (Charlton Heston's `Taylor') riding off with his new girlfriend, only to run into some - unseen - trouble. But, hot on his heels, is another astronaut who has been sent to rescue him. This is where the story gets a bit odd. It's hard to put your finger on it, but you're given your original hero, only to have him taken away from you minutes into the film and replaced with someone who looks and acts a lot like him, but isn't him.

So we follow `Taylor Mk II' as he too journeys into the kingdom of the apes (and all the trouble that comes with it). Then, it sort of glides from a sequel (i.e. new story) into a kind of rehash of the last one. `New Taylor' meets up with the same apes and gets chased again then imprisoned (as Charlton did previously). However, the second half picks up. And, when I say `picks up' I mean takes on an `original flavour' while at the same time completely going in a different direction which doesn't feel like an `apes' movie and more.

In case you haven't already seen it, I won't go into detail about what Taylor and his mate find `below' the planet, but, even though it is a little weird sometimes, it is quite fun. It was certainly inventive for the time.

All in all, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is an enjoyable ride that falls victim of being a little uneven sometimes. Plus it would never entirely live up to the original due to being unable to match its predecessor's shock ending. Part 2 ends, in some people's opinions, unsatisfactory. I just thought it was different. But then the better part of the film was quite different, too.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one