This movie is not liked by most people. Here's why: It is uncomfortable for the people who watch it. It shows us how little we really have to say around this planet. And for most people, this is a vision which they don't like. After all, Jon Turteltaub did a wonderful job. The film is definitely not a movie that combines "Gorillas in the mist" with "One flew over the cuckoo's nest", it is an introduction into a different way of thinking. The movie says: "Switch back one or two gears and take a look at the bigger picture." Dr. Powell could also have been a completely different character, for example a woodcutter who is suddenly troubled by his deed of cutting down whole biotopes. Or a hunter. Or even a office clerk. The film is about breaking out of common understanding. Something has to be given up for it, and in this case it's what we call "civilization". What the movie wants to show is that our "civilization" is not a progress to, but a regress from what is good for us and our planet. We are less far civilized than the old civilizations. Writer Daniel Quinn doesn't say "go live on a tree", he says: "think it over and make it better". And I think we still have lots of things to review and improve. Conclusion: Watch this movie not as an ape-story, but as a guidance to a better thinking.
