Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) by Ludders1979 — 17 Aug 2011

There has been talk of a reboot of the Apes franchise ever since Tim Burton's failed attempt with Planet of the Apes in 2001. Now, 20th Century Fox and director Rupert Wyatt have taken the smart move of giving us simianatics something new (of sorts) a modern day retelling of the uprising of the apes by using a carefully told tale of science gone awry, and also at the same time giving us the journey of Caesar, the film's protagonist, from being just a super-smart ape who just wants to go home, to a leader of many who wants to set his own kind free from the shackles of scientific research.

James Franco plays Will Rodman, a geneticist trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, an affliction that's very personal to him as his father, Charles Rodman, played by John Lithgow, is suffering from the disease and worsening by the day. When Will's prize ape, Bright Eyes, a female chimp who displays tremendous intelligence after being given the proposed cure, runs amok at Gen Sys and is killed, Will is left with her small infant, a chimp he dubs Caesar. Cut to five years later and Will's cure, which at first seemingly cured his father's Alzheimer's, is now failing, and Caesar is forced to go and live in a primates sanctuary when he attacks the Rodmans' neighbour in defence of Charles.

With all of the pieces now firmly in place, it's time for the apes to 'rise', and indeed they do.

The first thing I found quite interesting about tbe film was that it didn't centre on an all-action ape versus human tale with the winner taking the planet, instead it's a simple story of one chimpanzee standing up for what he believes in. Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) gives an absolutely mesmerising performance as Caesar, causing you to forget that not only is a human playing the lead role via the medium of motion capture, but also, none of the primates are real, the wizards at Peter Jackson's Weta Digital have managed to pull off the greatest of feats, not once do you look at the apes and think they don't look real, blending seamlessly into their surroundings.

Praise should also be given to James Franco, despite many criticisms of him giving many wooden performances in the past, he manages to make the man who will eventually be responsible for the destruction of the human race quite likeable.

A great deal of the film's storytelling is mute, told by gestures and sign language, the other quite brave move the filmmakers have made is the fact their primary character is not only computer-generated, but also not human. There are many small nods to the previous franchise, if you're a fan of them be on the lookout, a lot of them are very subtle.

The film is by no means a complete intellectual examination of apes taking over the world, there are plenty of action scenes you normally expect with a summer blockbuster, but even these do not feel out of place fitting perfectly into the flow of the story.

If you want an enjoyable two hours, which hopefully after viewing might leave you pondering the messages the film tries to get across, then Rise of the Planet of the Apes is for you.