Cinema Verdict Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

OPENING: 08/05/2011

STUDIO: Twentieth Century Fox

RUN TIME: 105 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Evolution Ends. Revolution Begins.

Opening Statement
Franklin J. Schaeffner’s Planet of the Apes (1968) remains a slightly flawed yet immensely enjoyable science fiction classic, but the franchise doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation. The sequels to the original film are all hit-and-miss to some degree, and the less said about Tim Burton’s wretched 2001 reboot, the better. As such, it was hard to work up much enthusiasm for yet another attempt at bringing the property back to life, but Rupert Wyatt’s awkwardly-titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes proves to be one of summer 2011′s surprise successes.

Facts of the Case
Scientist named Will Rodman (James Franco, Your Highness), is currently developing a drug he believes may have the capability to cure Alzheimers (not coincidentally, a disease his father — played by John Lithgow — is suffering from). Will has been conducting trials on a female ape with immense success, but when the ape turns violent, she and the other test subjects are put down. Fueled by his guilt and humanity, Will manages to rescue the female’s newborn child and take it home with him.

As the young ape (named “Caesar” by Will’s Shakespeare-loving father) begins to grow, Will witnesses a remarkable series of developments. It seems the drug administered to Caesar’s mother had an effect on the child, who is now demonstrating a level of intelligence unheard of in his species. Within a few years, Caesar can understand English, is fluent in sign language, and capable of performing a wide variety of tasks which had previously been exclusive to human beings. However, after an unfortunate incident gets Caesar locked up, things take a dark and troubling turn.

The Evidence
The story we’re being told in Rise of the Planet of the Apes will feel very familiar to fans of the franchise, as Wyatt’s film is essentially a remake of Lee J. Thompson’s gritty Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While that film ultimately fumbled its interesting ideas, turning itself into a messy unsatisfying actioner, this franchise reboot grows stronger as it propels us along, managing the not-inconsiderable feat of leaving its audience salivating for more. In other words, what we’ve been given is easily the best Planet of the Apes since… well, Planet of the Apes.

Though the trailers promoted the film as a James Franco vehicle, it quickly becomes apparent the perpetually-busy actor is merely here to set up the tale of Caesar the ape. Portrayed masterfully by motion-capture king Andy Serkis (Peter Jackson’s King Kong), Caesar is arguably one of the most effective cinematic arguments for CGI to date. When you see how masterfully the filmmakers have fused the emotion of Serkis’ performance with the persuasive physical detail of the animation, odds are you’ll agree this is one of the rare instances in which the modern computer-generated imagery proves vastly more enchanting than practical effects (after witnessing this film, the idea of going back to men in monkey suits is unthinkable).

Caesar is unquestionably the star of the film, and he manages to act circles around his human counterparts. Not that the humans are bad, mind you (in fact, Franco, Brian Cox, and John Lithgow are all rather good), but Serkis and the animators manage to achieve a level of subtle expressiveness which is wondrous to behold. Over the course of the film, Serkis depicts Caesar at stages of life from giddy child to moody teenager to embittered revolutionary, never missing a beat at any turn. In sequences which are mostly dialogue-free, we witness an origin story that deeply moves us even as it goes precisely where we expect it to.

The main plot points are predictable, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes keeps us involved by allowing these events to unfold in a natural, intelligently-written manner. It’s not exactly a movie for Mensa members, but it’s an atypically smart summer blockbuster which only slips into cheap fan service on a few brief occasions (the recycling of Charlton Heston’s famous “damn dirty apes” line is regrettably groan-worthy). However, it still manages to deliver on a more primal front, as the action sequence in the third act feels like a genuinely thrilling extension of the story rather than some obligatory noise which forces the characters to take a back seat (the increasingly robust score by Patrick Doyle certainly adds some punch too).

Closing Statement
Like all the films in this franchise, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has its problems. The romance between Franco and Freida Pinto feels like a forced subplot, the obnoxious character played by Tom Felton (aka Draco Malfoy) gets too much screen time, and Lithgow’s character is treated as nothing more than a plot device. Even so, this film marks the second time a Planet of the Apes movie has left me satisfied, and the first time one has left me hungry to see what comes next. Alongside Captain America: The First Avenger, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has brought a much-needed jolt to a generally lackluster summer movie season.

The Verdict
9/10

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