Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Writers: Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: Andy Serkis, James Franco, Frieda Pinto, Brain Cox, Tom Felton and John Lithgow
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: Andy Serkis, James Franco, Frieda Pinto, Brain Cox, Tom Felton and John Lithgow
When it was announced, I was not looking forward to Rise of the Apes (Its original and better title) it seemed like nothing more than a desperate cash grab and an attempt to revive a dead franchise for nothing more than box office rewards. However the more footage I saw, I started to become tentatively confident and when the reviews hit my anticipation had reached sky high levels. Could the film live up to my newfound expectation? Or would my initial doubts be tragically proven correct? Thankfully it is the former, as Rise of the Planet of the Apes is one of the best films of the summer and the year.
The story of Rise of the Planet of the Apes focuses on Casear, an ape born in a laboratory where scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) has been testing his potential cure for Alzheimers on chimpanzees. After the experiment seemingly falls apart financially, Will is forced to go back to the drawing board and face the possibility that he may never be able to cure his father (John Lithgow) however when Caesar begins to show signs of intelligence beyond that of a human counterpart Will is given hope, yet he cannot foresee the consequences that his experiment will have both for Casear and for mankind.
Few films can make the potential end of mankind a heart-warming and triumphant moment, however in Rise of the Planet of the Apes you genuinely find yourself wishing pain on your fellow man. While Apple may not have invented the mobile phone, they reinvented and redefined it with the iphone and while Rise of the Planet of the Apes did not invent motion capture technology, the work on display in this film has genuinely broken new ground. In this film are the most realistic computer generated animals ever put to screen, from the very opening scene you are blown away by the immense realism. However over the course of the film you forget that what you are seeing is ground breaking special effects and instead get wrapped up in what is perhaps the best character arc put to celluloid so far in 2011.
The journey of Caesar over the course of this film is one of the most engaging, emotional and well developed stories of the year, making him the character of the year so far and one of the best animal characters in the history of film. The reason why Caesar’s journey from orphan to leader is so compelling is due to the superb performance from Andy Serkis and the fact that he is able to portray Caesar’s love, pain and anger without saying a single word. Serkis did great work with Gollum and Kong but this may be his best motion capture performance to date, in fact forget “motion capture performance” this is his best performance to date.
Sadly actors ignorance regarding motion capture will most likely deprive Serkis of an Oscar nomination he so very deserves. Few actors this year, in fact probably no actors this year gave or will give the kind of performance that Serkis gave in this film. While it is easy to get carried away and to doubt how much of the performance was truly his, there was a soul to Caesar that no amount of computer wizardry could insert at the tap of a keyboard, it was something that only an actor could bring and the Academy should not be blind to that fact. It is the emotional core regarding Caesar’s character, which elevates Rise of the Planet of the Apes from a good film to a great film.
While most of the praise for this film is rightly being lavished upon Weta and Serkis, Rupert Wyatt has delivered a surprisingly accomplished and confident directors job for what is only his second feature film and first inside the Hollywood system. He keeps the film moving at an appropriate pace and the film at a length that is kind to our bottoms. There are certain sequences and images in this film which stick in the memory and look glorious on the big screen, showing that Wyatt has a keen visual eye, as well as one for pacing, action and apes. By bringing motion capture out of the sound stages and onto the Golden Gate Bridge, he has brought this technology into the real world, in a way that would impress the technological progressives Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg.
Wyatt also demonstrates some versatility in this film, as Rise of the Planet of the Apes is essentially three films in one. The first is a family drama, where we see Caesar grow into an emotionally and intellectually advanced ape, becoming more and more of a burden for Rodman as he attempts to cure his father. The second is a prison break film, where Caesar is subjected to the cruelty of humanity and becomes the revolutionary leader he was destined to be. The third is an apocalyptic action film, where Casear completes his journey and mankind its downfall (I do not think it is much of a spoiler to reveal that the apes do indeed rise)
While the title and concept may seem to be stupid on the surface, this film is surprisingly intelligent and its mid credits scene should silence the cynics who bemoan, “How can the apes take over when we have advanced weaponry” This is a film which takes itself deadly seriously and earns the right to. While we are not talking “Inception” levels here, this is almost as intelligent as late summer blockbusters get (Proven by the fact that it arrives in U.S. cinemas at the same time as Final Destination 5)
However while Rise of the Planet of the Apes has groundbreaking VFX work, a superb central performance from Andy Serkis, assured direction from Rupert Wyatt, a strong emotional core and a surprising degree of intelligence it is not without its flaws. The human characters are barely developed beyond caricature, Brain Cox and Tom Felton play your stereotypical mean humans whose only purpose in the film (like the rest of the human characters) is to drive the plot forward rather than be actual characters. While none of the human performances are bad, none of them are given anything special or memorable to do. The death of a certain human character is so rushed and lacking in any emotional gravitas whatsoever and while you may say that it is Caesar who is important and should be developed (A point which I agree with) the lack of time given to the death of this particular character is important due to the importance of the character in terms of character motivations.
Frieda Pinto definitely draws the shortest straw however as her character can literally be defined in two words “kind girlfriend” however this lack of human character development is not such a crushing blow to the film as the focus is rightly Caesar and his narrative is done so well that any moment he is not on the screen, the film never quite flies the way it does when he is.
Another element of the film which bugged me in a Harry Potter epilogue esque way is how nobody but Caesar seems to change physically in eight years. To get back to the positives however, few films can make a single word one of the finest lines of the year. Overall Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an intelligent, well-paced, visually groundbreaking and emotionally tangible summer blockbuster that revives a dead franchise in the right way. While I still prefer X-Men: First Class and Super 8, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is right up there in my top 5 for the year at number 3 and repeat viewings may see it move up one spot.
As a postscript, I was quite proud of myself for spotting most of the nods to the original film; did you catch all of them? Let us know in the Your Say section.
The story of Rise of the Planet of the Apes focuses on Casear, an ape born in a laboratory where scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) has been testing his potential cure for Alzheimers on chimpanzees. After the experiment seemingly falls apart financially, Will is forced to go back to the drawing board and face the possibility that he may never be able to cure his father (John Lithgow) however when Caesar begins to show signs of intelligence beyond that of a human counterpart Will is given hope, yet he cannot foresee the consequences that his experiment will have both for Casear and for mankind.
Few films can make the potential end of mankind a heart-warming and triumphant moment, however in Rise of the Planet of the Apes you genuinely find yourself wishing pain on your fellow man. While Apple may not have invented the mobile phone, they reinvented and redefined it with the iphone and while Rise of the Planet of the Apes did not invent motion capture technology, the work on display in this film has genuinely broken new ground. In this film are the most realistic computer generated animals ever put to screen, from the very opening scene you are blown away by the immense realism. However over the course of the film you forget that what you are seeing is ground breaking special effects and instead get wrapped up in what is perhaps the best character arc put to celluloid so far in 2011.
The journey of Caesar over the course of this film is one of the most engaging, emotional and well developed stories of the year, making him the character of the year so far and one of the best animal characters in the history of film. The reason why Caesar’s journey from orphan to leader is so compelling is due to the superb performance from Andy Serkis and the fact that he is able to portray Caesar’s love, pain and anger without saying a single word. Serkis did great work with Gollum and Kong but this may be his best motion capture performance to date, in fact forget “motion capture performance” this is his best performance to date.
Sadly actors ignorance regarding motion capture will most likely deprive Serkis of an Oscar nomination he so very deserves. Few actors this year, in fact probably no actors this year gave or will give the kind of performance that Serkis gave in this film. While it is easy to get carried away and to doubt how much of the performance was truly his, there was a soul to Caesar that no amount of computer wizardry could insert at the tap of a keyboard, it was something that only an actor could bring and the Academy should not be blind to that fact. It is the emotional core regarding Caesar’s character, which elevates Rise of the Planet of the Apes from a good film to a great film.
While most of the praise for this film is rightly being lavished upon Weta and Serkis, Rupert Wyatt has delivered a surprisingly accomplished and confident directors job for what is only his second feature film and first inside the Hollywood system. He keeps the film moving at an appropriate pace and the film at a length that is kind to our bottoms. There are certain sequences and images in this film which stick in the memory and look glorious on the big screen, showing that Wyatt has a keen visual eye, as well as one for pacing, action and apes. By bringing motion capture out of the sound stages and onto the Golden Gate Bridge, he has brought this technology into the real world, in a way that would impress the technological progressives Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg.
Wyatt also demonstrates some versatility in this film, as Rise of the Planet of the Apes is essentially three films in one. The first is a family drama, where we see Caesar grow into an emotionally and intellectually advanced ape, becoming more and more of a burden for Rodman as he attempts to cure his father. The second is a prison break film, where Caesar is subjected to the cruelty of humanity and becomes the revolutionary leader he was destined to be. The third is an apocalyptic action film, where Casear completes his journey and mankind its downfall (I do not think it is much of a spoiler to reveal that the apes do indeed rise)
While the title and concept may seem to be stupid on the surface, this film is surprisingly intelligent and its mid credits scene should silence the cynics who bemoan, “How can the apes take over when we have advanced weaponry” This is a film which takes itself deadly seriously and earns the right to. While we are not talking “Inception” levels here, this is almost as intelligent as late summer blockbusters get (Proven by the fact that it arrives in U.S. cinemas at the same time as Final Destination 5)
However while Rise of the Planet of the Apes has groundbreaking VFX work, a superb central performance from Andy Serkis, assured direction from Rupert Wyatt, a strong emotional core and a surprising degree of intelligence it is not without its flaws. The human characters are barely developed beyond caricature, Brain Cox and Tom Felton play your stereotypical mean humans whose only purpose in the film (like the rest of the human characters) is to drive the plot forward rather than be actual characters. While none of the human performances are bad, none of them are given anything special or memorable to do. The death of a certain human character is so rushed and lacking in any emotional gravitas whatsoever and while you may say that it is Caesar who is important and should be developed (A point which I agree with) the lack of time given to the death of this particular character is important due to the importance of the character in terms of character motivations.
Frieda Pinto definitely draws the shortest straw however as her character can literally be defined in two words “kind girlfriend” however this lack of human character development is not such a crushing blow to the film as the focus is rightly Caesar and his narrative is done so well that any moment he is not on the screen, the film never quite flies the way it does when he is.
Another element of the film which bugged me in a Harry Potter epilogue esque way is how nobody but Caesar seems to change physically in eight years. To get back to the positives however, few films can make a single word one of the finest lines of the year. Overall Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an intelligent, well-paced, visually groundbreaking and emotionally tangible summer blockbuster that revives a dead franchise in the right way. While I still prefer X-Men: First Class and Super 8, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is right up there in my top 5 for the year at number 3 and repeat viewings may see it move up one spot.
As a postscript, I was quite proud of myself for spotting most of the nods to the original film; did you catch all of them? Let us know in the Your Say section.
Summary:
Summary: Groundbreaking visual effects, a stunning lead performance from Andy Serkis, a surprising amount of intelligence and an emotionally focused narrative make Rise of the Planet of the Apes one of the best films of the summer and the year despite its terrible title and lack of human character development.
Rating: 8/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us all your Rise of the Planet of the Apes thoughts in the Your Say section.
Rating: 8/10
By Movie Parliament Prime Minister,
Michael Dalton
Disagree with this review? Give us all your Rise of the Planet of the Apes thoughts in the Your Say section.
