Plant of the Apes 決戰(zhàn)猩球

Fans of the original are ready to go ape over this summer's movie offering from Fox. Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes is said to be neither a remake of the 1968 classic of the same name nor a sequel to the series. Rather, it is a reimagining, complete with more ape races, better ape faces, and a sexy ape heroine a la Rick Baker, veteran Hollywood ape maker. The movie stars Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg as its main human character, and has Charleton Heston, star of the original, in a special cameo--his time as an ape.

The premise is similar to that of the original, but the details are different. An ape that has been genetically altered for long-distance space travel is sent into the cosmos where its ship loses contact with Earth. Astronaut Leo Davidson (Wahlberg) goes after the ape, following it through a portal that transports him to an unknown time and place. He crashes on a backward, primal planet where apes rule and humans are reviled as animals and slaves. The simian he was chasing seems to have arrived long before, and is revered there as a planetary forefather.

An outsider to the place, and not socialized into its oppressive regime, Davidson inspires a revolt. Events propel him into the planet's forbidden zone, where his discoveries lead him to a deeply personal revelation about the significance of his presence in this strange world.

Performer Mark Wahlberg began his public life as a small-time thug, even doing time at one point for the savage beatings of two Vietnamese men. Though he denies racist intentions in the incident, Wahlberg had been censured in the past for using racial epithets at school.

Wahlberg credits his prison time for turning him around. It didn't hurt, though, that his older brother Donnie was a member of the boy group sensation New Kids on the Block. Donnie wrote some material for Mark and got him a recording contract. "Marky Mark"'s first rap album was a tremendous hit. His bad-boy attitude, along with the buff physique he was ever-willing to flaunt at concerts, caught the attention of fans, as well as of Calvin Klein, who signed him to a modeling contract.

Marky's gig was up, however, when new allegations of racism and homophobia hit the press at the same time as Wahlberg was tried for the unprovoked assault of a security guard. Wahlberg agreed to make amends by recording antibias advertisements, but the damage had already been done, and he had fallen from music and modeling grace.

When Wahlberg then ventured into acting, it was amid major skepticism. In role after role, however, a more mature Wahlberg has managed to impress critics. From The Basketball Diaries to The Perfect Storm, Wahlberg has come through with flying colors. Just as surprisingly, perhaps, he has also managed to stay out of trouble.

喜歡原作的影迷們會(huì)為今年夏天福克斯電影公司推出的影片瘋狂一陣子。據(jù)稱，由蒂姆·伯頓執(zhí)導(dǎo)的新片《決戰(zhàn)猩球》既非翻拍1968年的同名影集，亦不屬該系列的續(xù)集。而是一個(gè)重新虛構(gòu)的故事，故事中有更多的猿類，更細(xì)致逼真的人猿面孔，還有一位性感的母猿英雄──這些造型均由好萊塢人猿化妝大師拉·里克·貝克一手包辦。本片由馬克·華伯格領(lǐng)銜出演“人類”男主角，原著主角查爾頓赫·斯頓則特別客串演出──這一次他扮演人猿。

故事背景與原著雷同，細(xì)節(jié)則大相徑庭。一只為長途太空航行而做了基因改造的人猿在被送入太空之后，座艙便與地球失去聯(lián)系。華伯格飾演的太空人利奧·戴維森尾隨人猿 穿過一道閘門后，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身處一個(gè)未知的時(shí)空。他闖進(jìn)一個(gè)落后、原始的星球。猿類主宰萬物，人類則被視為動(dòng)物和 奴隸飽受凌辱。他追逐的那只人猿似乎已久居該處，搖身一變，竟成了星球的開朝元老。

身為局外人的戴維森無法忍受其高壓統(tǒng)治，遂鼓動(dòng)人類叛變。一連串事件使他進(jìn)入星球的禁區(qū)，在那的一系列發(fā)現(xiàn)向他揭示了他的出現(xiàn)對這個(gè)陌生星球的重要意義。

演員馬克·華伯格以小癟三的姿態(tài)開始了他的社會(huì)生活，他甚至曾因野蠻毆打兩名越南人而鋃鐺入獄。雖然他否認(rèn)這件事與種族歧視有關(guān)，他還是因在學(xué)校時(shí)使用污辱種族的稱謂而備受指責(zé)。

華伯格深信獄中日子是他的人生轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。他的大哥唐尼是轟動(dòng)一時(shí)的男孩組合“新街邊仔”的一員，這對他還是有好處的。唐尼給馬克寫了一些歌，替他掙來一份唱片合約。馬克的首張說唱專輯《馬基·馬克》是一個(gè)巨大的成功。他的壞男孩形象，加上不時(shí)刻意在演唱會(huì)中炫耀外露的體格，讓歌迷為之瘋狂，也吸引了卡爾文·克萊因公司與他簽下模特兒的合約。

然而，不久他的短期歌唱表演生涯就結(jié)束了。他的種族歧視及反同性戀主張同時(shí)遭到媒體的撻伐，同時(shí)他也涉嫌 無故攻擊一名保安人員。華伯格同意錄制反偏見廣告來改正錯(cuò)誤，但傷害已經(jīng)造成，他在樂壇和模特兒界的魅力也就蕩然無存了。

當(dāng)華伯格大膽涉足表演界時(shí)，眾人均投以懷疑的眼光。然而經(jīng)過一次又一次表演的錘煉，日漸成熟的華伯格給影評界的印象也越發(fā)深刻。從《籃球日記》到《完美風(fēng)暴》, 華伯格皆頗獲好評。或許，總是出人意料的他，已經(jīng)擺脫了麻煩纏身的歲月。