The Top 10 Best Movie Apes

April 10, 2021April 10, 2021 Patrick Sessoms apes, Charlton Heston, Christopher Walken, Clint Eastwood, Disney, Dwayne Johnson, giant monsters, giant movie monsters, gorilla, Jon Favreau, Kaiju, King Kong, Michael Crichton, monkey, movie apes, movie remakes, Planet of the Apes, remake, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, sign language, Tarzan

5. Cheetah- Tarzan

Let’s head back to the early days of cinema when a man in a loincloth swung across the silver screen with his chimpanzee sidekick in tow. The character appeared in many Tarzan films and was one of the first major chimpanzee characters. Of course, I’m not going to speak to the quality of those films, but through them all, Cheetah proved to be a faithful companion to the great white idiot. Over a dozen chimpanzee’s tackled the role over the years, and the sheer number of appearances in movies and on television rightfully earns the character a spot on this list. Unfortunately, Tarzan doesn’t quite have the same appeal he did back in the day and Cheetah has been in unofficial retirement. Let’s face it, the chimp has more than earned it. That said, Hollywood has a way of dusting off old characters, and I’m sure that a rebooted Cheetah will be coming along any day now.

4. Virgil- Project X

Prepare to feel all the feels over the next entry on this list of movie apes. Project X was a movie that took a hard look at the sort of sacrifices made by lab animals for the sake of human advancement. By now you’ve probably guessed that the next chimp on this list, Virgil, doesn’t get a happy ending, but his death is all the more gut-wrenching because Willie, the chimpanzee who plays Virgil, is freaking adorable. The film starts with Virgil as part of a research study to teach him sign language. When the grant isn’t renewed, the graduate student teaching Virgil is forced to sell him to the Air Force. Alas, hilarious hijinks involving an ape in a fighter jet don’t ensue, but Virgil is taught how to use a flight simulator and makes a few friends along the way. Unfortunately, those friends aren’t much help in the face of the military-industrial complex. That’s all part of what makes Virgil one of the best movie apes of all time though.

3. Dr. Cornelius and Dr. Zira – The Planet of the Apes Franchise (Original)

Including a few damn dirty movie apes on this list was an inevitability, but with so many to choose from in the original trilogy, it was hard to settle on just one. So, since we combine couples into a single entity in real life, I merged the husband and wife couple of Dr. Cornelius and Dr. Zira into one entry. While the vast majority of the residents on the planet of the apes were less than tolerant towards humans, these two doctors expressed empathy towards them. In fact, they just might be the nicest apes on the whole dang planet, which works out great for Charlton Heston since they rounded him up to be a lab rat, er, human. They’re two of the main protagonists in the original trilogy and will always be remembered for their kindness to the undeserving humans. However, they simply don’t compare to their great ancestor.

2. Caesar- The Planet of the Apes Trilogy (Reboot)

One of the great injustices in cinema is that Andy Serkis hasn’t received an Academy Award for one of his incredible motion-capture performances… Yet. One of my favorites is his take on the Spartacus of movie apes, Caesar. Before there could be a Planet of the Apes, the primates had to overthrow the tyrannical humans. The rebooted trilogy follows Ceasar from his beginnings as a bright-eyed bouncing baby chimp to a super-intelligent lab animal to the revolutionary leader of ape-kind. You’d think there’d be an obvious side to root for in the battle between apes and humans, but Serkis’s complex portrayal of Caesar casts doubt on who the good guys actually are. By the end of the trilogy, I had turned against my own species and was cheering for the apes. I guess you could say Caesar proves that humanity isn’t a trait exclusive to humans.

1. Kong- The MonsterVerse

I think he’s going be king for a long time to come.

Coming in at number one on this list is the super-heavyweight Kong. The giant gorilla was the first-ever kaiju to appear in a film back in 1933 and has had several cinematic make-overs since. My pick for the litter though has to be the recent reboot who threw down with Godzilla recently in an epic battle of the giant movie monsters. I’ve been Team Godzilla all my life, but even I have to admit he held his own against the King of the Monsters and the two parted with a… mutual understanding. As far as movie apes go though, Kong truly is King. There hasn’t been a primate since that’s compared to the sheer awesomeness of the character. He’s an icon of cinema that’s become ingrained in pop culture ever since his premier. Even those who have never seen the films know who “King Kong” is, which is why he was such an easy decision for the number one spot on this list of movie apes.

Honorable Mention: Nikko the Flying Monkey Captain- The Wizard of Oz

“This is the dame whats sent ta kills ya, boss?”

Movie witches tend to have odd familiars, but none are as nightmarish as Nikko. Sure, movie apes look cute and act goofy, but the reality is that chimpanzees are vicious creatures that go for the face when they attack. An army of them would be enough to make any sane person turn back, but the Witch of the West went and gave her henchmen wings for good measure. Nikko was the Captain of these terrifying creatures, which probably means he’d collected the most faces of something over the years. Still, he failed to thwart the assassin Dorthy before she could kill his boss, and the poor guy has been out of work ever since. Despite that blunder, I felt he deserved an honorable mention among the rest of the movie apes on this list.

Shout-Out: Don McLeod– Trading Places, The Man with Two Brains, and Born to Be Wild

That’s a very convincing costume and an even more convincing performance.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the “guy in the gorilla suit” from a few movies over the years. Actor Don McLeod played two classic comedies from the 80s and his appearances were hilarious. Not a lot of creature actors get the recognition they deserve, which is why McLeod has earned a shout-out for his contributions to some of the more memorable movie apes over the years.

That wraps up this collection of the best movie apes of all time. There have been a lot over the years and if I missed any of the greats, let me know in the comments below. I’ll be updating this list as new movie apes make their big-screen debuts. So, be sure to check back from time to time in order to see how the rankings might change.

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