Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Welcome to another episode Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt.

Written by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver.

Suggested by the novel "La Planete Des Singes aka Planet of the Apes" written by Pierre Boulle

Review #131

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, terror, some sexuality and brief strong language.

Runtime: 108 min

Cast

Ape Motion Capture Cast

Andy Serkis ... Caesar

Karin Konoval ... Maurice

Terry Notary ... Rocket / Bright Eyes

Richard Ridings ... Buck

Christopher Gordon ... Koba

Devyn Dalton ... Cornelia

Jay Caputo ... Alpha

Human Cast

James Franco ... Will Rodman

Freida Pinto ... Caroline Aranha

John Lithgow ... Charles Rodman

Brian Cox ... John Landon

Tom Felton ... Dodge Landon

David Oyelowo ... Steven Jacobs

Tyler Labine ... Robert Franklin

Jamie Harris ... Rodney

David Hewlett ... Hunsiker

The Planet of the Apes franchise has been one of the most cherished series of films in science fiction. I myself am partial to only the first one. Charlton Heston's delivery of two of cinema's most iconic lines of dialogue will forever be etched in my memory banks. You should know exactly what lines I speak of. If you don't then tough noogies cause I ain't tellin. See the movie. Anyway, the popularity of the first film spawned multiple sequels and a GOD AWFUL remake thanks to Marky Mark and Tim Burton. Apparently tinseltown couldn't get enough of those damn dirty apes so instead of trying to correct the massive mistake Tim Burton made they decided to go to the beginning. They chose to tell the story of how the apes eventually took over the planet. This was a good idea in principle but would it be worth it at all?

All I can say is I probably just saw the film of the summer and is the early front runner for my film of 2011.

Plot

An origin story set in present day San Francisco, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. 


When you're dealing with a sci fi film that has just as many fans as Star Wars or Star Trek. You have to be very careful when you modernize their beloved pictures. The powers that be this time did the right thing by giving us an origin story. The first Planet of the Apes only gave you hints to what happened to civilization. You have to make conclusions for yourself. Which was part of what made that film a classic. Here you get the full blown story and despite it's very cliched tendencies it works VERY VERY well.

Despite cliched aspects of the main plot the film carries a very important message. Just like the original film warned society to take care of the planet and each other. This film warns us to never underestimate and ALWAYS respect the power of nature. Defiance of that respect can and will be met with severe and unfortunately avoidable consequences. They also did a great job of "borrowing" from the other "apes" films. It was clear that the writers went back and saw the others and used the best elements to make this story cohesive with the original. That was key for me watching this. I left the theater feeling that if I went home and popped on Planet of the Apes there wouldn't have been an inkling of disconnect between a film made in 1968 and a film made 43 years later.

Bravo!

The film is packed with a very talented cast starting with James Franco who actually looked interested for this one. He didn't need to channel his Ocsar night presentation to make this role work. Of course I'm kidding. He was actually pretty good here. There were a couple of stiff moments in his performance but for the most part he was identifiable when he struggled losing Caesar.

Now here is where we get to the REAL stars of the show. If Avatar was good for anything (and there's very little it was good for) it revolutionized the way motion capture technology can and will be implemented in big budget CG pictures. They used the exact same method used in Avatar to give us these life like simians. This is where Andy Serkis comes in. If that name sounds familiar it's because he was the man who played Smeagol/Gollum in the Lord of The Rings trilogy. He also played Kong in Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong.

It's his portrayal of Kong that's important to bring up here. Before joining the cast he spent months in the wild doing "up close" and personal research with chimps and silverback gorillas. Learning their mannerisms, behavior and tendencies in an attempt to deliver as realistic performance as possible while playing Kong. It was a brilliant move because not only did he nail the body actions and emotions of the massive ape his facial expressions were implemented in the CG rendering of Kong making him more life like. This exact same tactic was used here only this time the technology has become FAR more advanced so Serkis' performance as Caesar was just AMAZING! He's truly a living, breathing character. This may sound a bit hokey to some of you but I firmly believe that Serkis needs to be recognized as a legitimate ACTOR for this film and not just a guy that played a CG character. There's more of Serkis in Caesar than there is Caesar in Serkis. It just adds the UNBELIEVABLE ending when the apes attack. That scene had so much adrenaline pumping through it that it completely DESTROYS ANYTHING that Hackael Bay did with any of the Transformers films.

Hey moron! Take notes! THIS IS HOW YOU USE CGI TO SHOOT AND PRESENT AN ACTION SEQUENCE! We want to SEE the action. Not just watch holy mess on the screen.

There's not much more for me to say about this except. SEE THIS MOVIE! SEE IT NOW! You won't be disappointed.

On the 5 star scale. Rise of the Planet of the Apes gets the full house 5 stars with a "Worth Every Penny!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is Attack the Block.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"