I finally got around to watching this 3rd installment and thought it was pretty good. It definitely has a lot more satirical humor than the first two, apparently drawing from the original book.

Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel had all the elements we see here: apes dressed in tailored suits, smoking cigars and drinking wine, by all appearances human except they wear gloves on their feet (which Cornelius shows us while relaxing at the hotel).

It’s definitely a different flavor from the original film & 1st sequel which are serious action/adventure stories. But in its own right, Escape does a good job and revives the spirit of the book. One line that freaked me out until I realized the satire was the way Hassler tells pregnant Zira that wine is a popular form of relaxation for expectant mothers lmao. He proceeds to get her drunk and squeeze some secrets out of her, leading to all the trouble.

Escape does add something new & interesting: the Christ parallel which pops up a couple times. When Hasslein suggests killing the apes to safeguard the future of the human race, the President says: “Herod tried that. Christ still lived.” And careful watchers might’ve noticed the birth of the savior chimp Milo was in a straw filled tent at the circus, surrounded by animals (a lot like a stable, eh?).

All in all, lots of cool winks in this movie, interesting themes (for the first time in a major motion picture, introducing the concept of infinite timelines?), and a story that could really stand on its own without the first 2. Proves a low budget sequel can still hold its own.