Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) Review

"Lousy human bastards!"
-Caesar



20 years after the events of the previous film, Caesar (Roddy McDowall) is all grown up and lives in the circus.  He can speak, but pretends not to as he would be considered a threat to the dystopian society that use apes for slave labor.  Caesar sees the brutality the apes face at the hands of the humans and leads a rebellion against mankind.


What Works:

Roddy McDowall returns to the series playing his previous character's son.  Caesar is wildly different from his father and is an extremely likable protagonist.  He spends the entire film justifiably livid with how the apes are treated and McDowall brings that anger through the screen.  He gives such a wonderful performance that you can't help but root against your own species.

The film's villain, Governor Breck (Don Murray), is another highlight of the film.  While he isn't the most complex character, he's easy to hate and Murray gives a very charismatic performance.  His actions make it even easier to root for the downfall of mankind.

I also really liked Hari Rhodes' performance as Breck's chief aid, MacDonald.  He's one of the few human characters who is sympathetic to the plight of the apes and is willing to stand up to Breck.  I really like Rhodes' disdain he has throughout the film and his reaction to finding out Caesar can speak is great.

Finally, the plot of the movie is extremely exciting.  We get to see the apes rise against man and fight back.  Is it as impressive as the action sequences in the reboot trilogy?  No, but for the time, it's still a lot of fun and emotionally satisfying.


What Sucks:

I do wish the movie spent more time showing how Caesar organized the apes into fighting back.  All we get in the movie is Caesar looking at a few apes meaningfully and suddenly he has an army.  In the reboot trilogy, they take time to develop the apes and their various approaches to dealing with the humans.  More of that would have been nice in Conquest.

Finally, the very end of the film doesn't really work for me.  I know in the original ending, Breck is brutally killed and the cycle of violence continues.  That's a great ending.  It's tragic and makes sense knowing this ends with the devastation of humanity.  The re-shot ending instead has the apes sparing Breck and Caesar promising compassion and understanding.  That doesn't jive with what we've seen from this character in the rest of the film and doesn't make sense within the context of the series.  The original ending is much better and I wish they hadn't changed it.


Verdict:

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is another solid entry in the series.  It gives us an excellent hero and villain, plus a really exciting story.  Some parts could have been handled better, especially the ending, but this movie has still got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 

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