RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

“RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES” (James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto & John Lithgow)

For the second time, a franchise that I never gave a damn about is re-worked & ‘fixed’ into something I find entertaining. The first was Batman – I hated the Michael Keaton incarnation but when they brought it back with Christian Bale & superior supporting actors, I liked it. With “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, it wasn’t the actors that drew me to give it a shot but a single scene from the preview – a gorilla leaping into a helicopter & beating the living daylights out of the man in the passenger seat. That looked pretty frickin' cool, so I read some reviews & they were mostly positive – saying 'Rise...' was intelligently written to at least seem plausible. I was surprised to learn that that not a single real primate was used – they were all computer generated. With the scene of the gorilla & seeing the apes’ ringleader, Caesar, looking very realistic, I was curious to see how it turned out. &, as I’ve written before, I’m always up for a rousing tale where mankind is destroyed – especially by the animals that we torture & mistreat on a daily basis.
With the exception of the gorilla (Buck) leaping into the helicopter, I was very pleased with this film. The odd part though, is that I don’t think I’ll have much interest in any sequels. THIS was the story I wanted to see; and when they ruined the leaping into the helicopter scene (The preview angle is much more thrilling to watch) I don’t know if I care to see the next installment.
For maybe the first time ever I wasn’t shaking my head wondering how James Franco keeps getting acting jobs – he does a decent job here as Will Rodman – the scientist that invents ALZ-112, a formula that cures Alzheimer’s disease. Of course, such formulas need to be tested on animals before being given to humans & Caesar’s mother, Bright Eyes, is one of the guinea pigs. Meant to reactivate brain tissue for Alzheimer patients, the drug increases intelligence in the tested chimps.
The reason for Will’s over-anxiousness to find a cure is due to the fact that his father (John Lithgow) has Alzheimer’s and is fading quickly.
The scenes of Caesar as a young chimp are clearly unrealistic – Still, it’s a kick to watch the chimpanzee grow from a ‘kid’ with a perpetual look of wonderment upon his face into a hardened, angry, dangerous animal that is much more intelligent than his captors (Brian Cox & Tom Felton as a father & son team that run a primate enclosure where Caesar is imprisoned for attacking one of Will’s neighbors)
When Will finally gets an injunction to have Caesar released back into his custody, the chimp turns his back on his one-time ‘daddy'. My wife whispered, “Why did he do that?” I told her, “Because he’d rather be king of the apes than some human’s ‘pet’." Was I finally right for once? See the film.
Andy Serkis (of Gollum & King Kong fame) plays Caesar & I’d said he should be given some consideration for Best Supporting Actor – One, it’s been a weak year for Supporting roles so far & Two, I knew exactly what was going thru Caesar’s mind in almost every scene just by his facial expressions – that’s the sign of higher quality acting. Now, does he lose a few points for being computer-generated?
Yes, that’s why I just said he should be ‘considered’...
I was thoroughly entertained by this film from start to finish – Like I said, the only let down was the helicopter scene – I liked Buck from the moment he came onscreen because he was the main reason I became interested in this project. For some unknown reason the director decided to go with a different angle than the preview & it isn’t nearly as breathtaking as the trailer – very odd choice. Still, the scene is powerful because of why Buck makes the leap in the first place.
I remember seeing the original ‘Planet of The Apes’ & wasn’t very impressed by it – Never cared for Charleton Heston’s over-pompous acting style & actors speaking thru rubber ape masks didn’t convince me they were actual monkeys – this film, after Caesar becomes a full grown chimp, is quite realistic with the way the primates are presented. You can still tell in some scenes that they’re not real, but for the most part they are impressive creations. But it’s the story that drew me in; this is the Rise of Caesar more than anything else & because they make you care about him – showing him from a baby to a wide-eyed youth to a resentful warrior/leader makes it hard not to cheer for him and against those cruel heartless humans. That’s another thing – I didn’t find myself rooting for the monkeys in the rubber masks during the original “POTA” movies, but I did in this one - & I gotta tell you - it was pretty frickin’ cool...