Rise of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t monkey around with the classic

Scientist Will Rodman is working to create a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. His motives are personal, as his father is suffering from the debilitating effects of the disease. The corporation he works for, GenSys, has provided Rodman with chimps to experiment on but when one goes berserk — presumably from the effects of the medication — the program is shut down and the chimps are destroyed. Except one, the baby the (mother) chimp was actually trying to protect. The baby, Caesar, shows signs of advanced intelligence so Rodman keeps him at home and also gives his father a dose of the experimental drug and continues his experiments. But with a miraculous recovery comes devastating consequences, and the Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

If you read our Trailer Talk post, you know that I was already 90% against this movie because of how they screwed with the timeline from the original Planet of the Apes series (and we’ll just pretend Tim Burton‘s version doesn’t exist). But, I went into this movie with an open mind, willing to accept it on its own terms and … I really enjoyed it! This is the first reboot that I can think of that didn’t simply ape (pun intended) the original movie on which it is based. Writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have taken the basic premise of Pierre Boulle‘s novel and created an entirely new origin story for the series (if it should progress past this movie). Instead of establishing a planet already inhabited by intelligent apes and then learning how the planet became that way (as in the third movie of the original series), the story starts in modern times and gives a rather plausible explanation for how the apes became intelligent (well, as plausible as it can be, but it works).

After I got over my initial resentment of this “unnecessary” reboot, I was completely drawn into the story, but not by the human characters. It’s the apes that really sell the whole concept. I have to tip my hat to the effects crew that created not just one or two digital characters, but an entire army of CGI apes with their own personalities (credit also to the human actors — like Andy Serkis — who did the motion capture performances). If the apes didn’t perform, the movie would have stunk, but you really feel for these creatures, especially as we see how badly they are treated by the humans. There are times when they do have a bit of a CGI look to them and some of the movements — as when Caesar leaps through treetops — are a little too fluid and don’t give the feeling of the character having real weight; but those moments are hardly enough to take you out of the movie and stop believing that you’re looking at real animals (and the only real animals in the movie are a dog and a couple of horses).

That’s not to say that the human cast didn’t acquit themselves, but many of them are simply “types.” James Franco, who is allegedly bad-mouthing the movie for not being what he signed on for, is actually believable as a scientist, and he has a great relationship with Caesar and his father. John Lithgow doesn’t have much to do but he plays the father role well, both in sickness and in health, and he becomes tragic when his disease returns as a side-effect of the drug. Brian Cox is wasted as the caretaker of a primate facility, but Tom Felton is over-the-top evil as his son who loves to torment the apes. Freida Pinto is also charming as the vet who helps stitch up Caesar after an unfortunate encounter with a neighbor, and ends up falling in love with Will. Unfortunately for all of them, the apes are the real stars and totally overshadow their performances.

If I have any nitpicks about the film — and they are minor — I have to roll my eyes at David Oyelowo‘s bad guy character, Steven Jacobs (Will’s boss). I mean, the bad guy in a movie traditionally wears black, but did they have to make the only black character in the movie the bad guy? Only thing he’s missing is a handlebar mustache to twirl. Then there is the neighbor of the Rodmans, played by David Hewlett. Anytime Caesar or the elder Rodman causes problems outside of their home, Hewlett’s character is always involved. There are obviously a lot of people in this neighborhood, but this one guy gets the brunt of everything the Rodman household (and even a Rodman co-worker!) dishes out. These little things aside, I was very pleased with the movie and I absolutely loved how they set up a possible sequel. I won’t spoil it, but there is a moment in the movie where I just thought to myself, “What does that have to do with anything and why is it so prominent?” Sit tight for a minute through the end credits and it should all pay off (it’s almost as good of an “A-ha!” moment as the end of the classic Planet of the Apes movie).

Sometimes after I see a movie and think about it, I notice that my initial feelings of goodwill turn a bit sour when I start to realize that nothing in the story fits together. Despite what Franco might think of the finished product, I think Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a pretty terrific and entetaining movie (moreso than it had any right to be) that does manage to throw in a few nods to the fans of the original (look for Charlton Heston in an old movie on TV, and pay attention to some of the character names), and I’m actually looking forward to a sequel to see if I’m right about how it’s going to play out.

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Aug 05, 2011 @ 00:01 EST5EDT