10 Weird Movie Plot Twists That Just Don't Work
7. Apes Conquered Earth - Planet Of The Apes (2001)
The Set-Up: Astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) is accidentally sucked through a wormhole which takes him to a far-off world in the distant future where militant simians rule with an iron fist, and humanity is enslaved.
The Twist: After fighting his way to get off the planet, Leo goes back through the wormhole and returns home - only to find that apes have taken over there, and a statue of the evil General Thade (Tim Roth) is sitting where the Lincoln Memorial should be in Washington DC.
Why It Doesn't Work: Okay, so Tim Burton and co didn't want to directly recreate the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, hence they avoided the familiar twist that the planet was actually Earth all along. This is acceptable.
However, given the fame of the original's conclusion (plus the fact that twist endings were back in fashion after The Sixth Sense), they clearly felt that needed a climactic surprise - but the one they settled on is just stupid.
We're meant to believe that Thade somehow got through the wormhole before Leo, went further back in time and conquered Earth (or at least America), when there is absolutely zero indication of when or how he did this?