Rise of the Planet of the Apes Review

Rise of the Planet of the Apes Review

When a movie is 42 years old, is the twist ending worth preserving? Probably not, but if you are unfamiliar with the saga that is The Planet of the Apes I am apologize in advance for spoiling the fact that It was Earth all along. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes brilliantly shows us the origins of just how the earth was over run, or rather taken over by the apes.

Will Rodman, played by James Franco, is researching a cure for Alzheimer's. It is a personal crusade for him because his father is suffering from it. During his clinical trials on chimpanzees, Will discovers that one of the primates has shown great progress. When the ape gets aggressive and attacks, it is summarily put down. When the dust settles it is revealed that the true reason for the aggressive behavior was not the "cure" but rather a baby chimpanzee, Caesar. Will takes the chimp home and soon becomes attached to Caesar's personality, and impressed by his staggering intelect. Will Rodman many be the main human character in the film but the story is centered purely on Caesar.

The early parts of the movie focuses on Caesar and Will, their developing relationship, and Caesars desire to be recognized as something more than a wild animal. When things go sour, Will is forced to place Caesar in a primate sanctuary run by Brian Cox. Superficially it appears to be a primate's paradise, but beneath the surface lies what is essentially Alcatraz for apes. It is here that the movie shifts gears and becomes very much a prison movie. Caesar, is caged and despite his staggering intellect he is initially not respected. There are moments in this section of the film when I flashed to old episodes of OZ, the only thing missing was gang rape in the shower. Caesar uses his intellect to eventually and cleverly gain alpha male status, and leadership of the imprisoned apes.

The third act of the movie becomes a disaster film. The Apes, after receiving an intelligence boost courtesy of Will's Alzheimer's treatment, descend upon downtown San Francisco wreaking havoc and mayhem as you would expect. This leads to panicked human characters trying to exterminate the apes out of fear, and perhaps guilt. But despite the mayhem, the ultimate goal of the apes is just to reach the redwood forests of Marin where they can safely and peacefully live.

Andy Serkis, who gained notoriety playing Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, puts in another stellar motion capture performance as Caesar. Serkis' motion capture roles are going to become legend. He gives better performances using only his eyes and gestures than some actors give using all of their faculties. I would not be surprised if someday in the future he is not bestowed an honorary Oscar for his pioneering of this type of performance.

Of course as much as Andy Serkis brings to the role, none of it would matter without the digital wizards at the Weta Workshop. This New Zealand based special effects house has really outdone themselves with their work here. The apes in this film are so much more than actors in prosthetics, but by the end of the movie you can still see a blend that would allow continuity between the films with low tech effects. 

The movie is very well done. Thematically the film jumps back an fourth between the dangers of human scientific exploration, and a morality play on the cruelty of animal testing. There is nothing surprising in the plot, you know where its headed, and yet you are still kept on the edge of your seat wondering just how it's going to get you there. The only surprising thing is that perhaps for the first time in the Planet of the Apes sage, you actually root for the Apes to win. You want Caesar to succeed, you cheer when an ape defeats a human, and you are sad when an ape is defeated.

You don't need to have seen any of the prior films in the series to appreciate this story, but if you have there are some very subtle and clever nods that you will appreciate, including the space shuttle Icarus. Be sure to stay through the first 10 minutes for credits to get the full effect of the morality play.

Summer Movie Preview Part 4 August 2011

August is typically a dumping ground for movies that are too expensive to release in September, but not quite good enough to release in the early part of the summer. Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised with a quality movie, like Scott Pilgrim, or Takers, and sometimes you get what you expect, like the Expendables, or Eat Pray Love, and then there are the bad movies like Piranha 3D, or Vampires Suck. So here are the releases for August 2011.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

This version of the Planet of the Apes seems to takes place after Charlton Heston's team leaves for space, but before his return. The concept is very interesting, the idea of how the apes took power, and how our scientific reach is outpacing our moral grasp. The Apes in this movie were motion captured and digitally created by the Weta Workshop, so I know they will be the most realistic apes to date. What I am really curious to see is if the story is as good as the effects.

The Change Up

The Change Up is essentially a guy's version of the Freaky Friday concept. Weather or not it is going to be good or not really depends on if we can buy into the concept yet again. Remember in the 80's when we got a flood of these films. Vice Versa, 18 again, Switch, Like Father Like Son, I could go on. most of these were bad movies, hopefully Hollywood has learned from it's mistakes, or we may be in for a long couple of years.

The Help

This movie is based on a 2009 novel byKathryn Stockett. It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. Typically movies based on these types of books do not translate will, The Secret Life of Bees comes to mind. However if the adaptation is done right and done well you can get a true classic. We will have to wait until it comes out to see.

30 Minutes or Less

I loved Zombieland, it was hysterically funny, and twisted. It was also original. 30 minutes or less is the follow up from the creators of Zombieland. It has the same manic qualities, and much of the same type of humor. Instead of twisting the horror genre, they have decided to add their twist to the action film. I am excited for this movie, but also weary that with a bigger budget, and less independence we may not get the same magic.

Final Destination 5

As much as I wish this series would go away and die already, I have to admit I am always morbidly sucked in by these trailers.  I mean look at that still. The crazy Clockwork Orange eye clamp, that right there has me sold. I know after I see the movie I will instantly regret it, like eating a pound and a half of hamburger, but you gotta admit, watching people die in crazy and outrageous ways is fun, albeit twisted.

Fright Night

This is a remake, and yes remakes are hit and miss, but this one looks like all kinds of hit. As I said before we are seeing the resurgence of Colin Farrell. He is popping up in all kinds of places, and ever since In Bruges, we have gotten A+ material from him. Toss in the up and coming Anton Yelchin who was spectacular in The Beaver, and the best part of Terminator Salvation, and you have quite an interesting pair. Did I mention David Tennant, and Toni Collette?

One Day

One Day is When Harry Met Sally but with, you know, tears. It looks at a couple on the same day every year for 20 years. We get to see their ups and downs, and you know that eventually even though they are trying not to fall in love, they will. My only concern is that will we care. I appreciate a good love story, but when you only get one day a year, will we be constantly playing catch up? Will it take us out of the movie?  Also can we really care about the characters?

Conan 3D

I hear a lot of people saying "No Arnold, No me." I'm sorry but do we really want to see a pudgy old Conan the Barbarian? Not me. Of course I could also do without this movie too. Yes it looks like a big action movie, but who cares really. Tack on migraine inducing 3D and you can count me out. I could be wrong, and it could be better than the original, but not likely.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Haunted house movies are not original, what makes haunted house movies original is their ability to surprise you with something new. Hopefully Don't be Afraid of the Dark can bring something new to the genre. Guillermo Del Torro is not a bad person to be producing your film. His horror films tend to be more psychological and blended with true human stories. I am excited to see this film, but don't be surprised if the trailer is scarier than the actual movie.

Our Idiot Brother

This movie seems very familiar. Oh yes its Captain Ron, or What About Bob, or any other strange dude movie. Yes this one revolves around a family who is tormented by their idiotic slacker brother, but you know that by the end they will all love him and appreciate him for all his tremendous stupidity. I hope it is funny but it seems to me like it will be more cliche than anything.

The Debt

I first saw the trailer for this movie back in December. This is usually a big red flag on the quality of the movie. When you see a trailer for a small film with out any special effects, and it takes more than 8 months for it to come out then usually it is bad. But the trailer makes the movie look very good, and Helen Mirren is always a quality actress. Hopefully this film is more of a difficult movie to place because of its content and topic rather than its quality.