Film Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Film Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
By Tom Ruff
August 12, 2011

In recent years it's become increasingly common for film studios to relaunch or "reimagine" classic franchises, with new plots, new characters, new origins, and new takes by writers, producers, and directors who have nothing to do with the original intent of the creators. Just ten years after an already attempted relaunch of the "Apes" franchise, in which Tim Burton failed to win over fans, critics, or audiences, many people were asking why this series needed a reboot. The original film which spawned four sequels, and two failed tv series, has gone down in history for one of the greatest film endings ever, a slew of catch phrases, and a commanding performance from one of Hollywood's biggest legends. The first reboot was a failed attempt at turning a 60s distopia series into a simplified action film, with flawed storytelling, unimpressive characters, and a lack of standout performances from its cast. Director Rupert Wyatt and writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver had a huge challenge in front of them in making this film, and they rose to the occasion.

This new film is neither a sequel or a prequel. It is a reimaging of the ideas explored in the "Apes" franchise, starting in a whole new place, but with the understanding of what made the original series captivating to multiple generations. The "Apes" films (and the original novel by Pierre Boulle), at their core, were never simply action films, or sci-fi films. They were morality tales on the ethical treatment of animals, and cautionary tales about the dangers of science run amok. They were also responses to the great fears of the day... that the cold war would lead to the nuclear annihilation of mankind. The great ending of the original film, and backstories in the sequels show us that man would ultimately destroy itself, and that our fears over the unknown could ultimately lead to those very fears coming true.

This film explores many of those same ideas, but updated for modern times. In the post cold-war world, "Rise" explores the conflicts between the desire for scientists to save lives, and the motivation of big pharma to rush results for profit. James Franco plays Will Rodman, a scientist doing Alzheimer research on chimpanzees in a race to find a cure. His company is motivated solely by profit, and he is motivated by the desire to save his father who is rapidly deteriorating from the disease. After a chimp named Bright Eyes shows side effects of a stark increase in intelligence, but also lashes out and runs wild at a shareholders meeting, all the apes are ordered to be put down and his treatment declared a failure. When one of his colleagues refuses to put down the infant offspring of Bright Eyes, Will takes him and raises him as a son, only to discover that he has inherited the treatment from his mother. This chimp, appropriately named Caesar by Will's father (played by John Lithgow), grows up to be the smartest ape who ever lived, with intelligence rivaling humans, and the ability to learn anything put in front of him. As Will's girlfriend (Freida Pinto) would point out though, chimps also should be feared, as they are inherently wild, and can be very dangerous. After Caesar attacks a neighbor in defense of Will's father, the courts force him to be relocated to an ape preserve, where he finds himself caged, mistreated, and surrounded by other apes who see him as being different. Caesar is not human, but he is not quite ape either. As the film progresses, the mistreatment of the apes leads Caesar to bring his "people" together, and lead a revolt, in which he ultimately steals the treatment that made him intelligent, and gives the other apes the intelligence that he had acquired. The apes run amok as they attempt to flee the city and setup a new civilization in the redwood forests where Casear had played as a child. By the end of the film he has learned to speak, and tells Will that he is home in his new environment.

As a major subplot of the film, the treatment that Will had engineered had the side effect of creating what may be a super virus that threatens to wipe out humanity. No doubt the writers used this mechanism to setup future sequels. In the original franchise, it was nuclear weapons that wiped out human civilization, but in the 21st century, biology dominates science, and this change is topical and appropriate. For fans of the franchise, there are also several references to the original series, including a scene in which trappers chase apes through the jungle (a reversal of the scene in the first film), and references to the Icarus shuttle en route to Mars being lost (Col. Taylor's ship? that will wind up in the future where apes rule). In an homage to the fourth film, Caesar's first word ever uttered by an ape is "No".

Perhaps what made the film most fascinating was watching Andy Serkis' motion capture portrayal of Casear, who with almost no dialogue becomes one of the most captivating characters of 2011. For a film in which so much of the plot is carried through visual effects, sign language, and facial expressions, it is phenomenal at how moving the story is. The motion capture technology of the apes is as much of a leap forward in technology as the original ape makeup was in 1968. The film captures all of the philosophical debate, metaphor, and symbolism that made the originals so interesting, but also replaces much of the 60s/70s "cheese" with darker story telling and more action. If there is one critique, it would be that the story development of the first hour could have been dragged out a little longer, and the action events of the second hour could have been a little shorter. I can't wait to see what they do with the next film, and whether they stay in this general time period chronicling the battle for the planet, or skip right to the future where apes are in control. Either way, I trust this team to be the right group of people to get it right, and I can't help but think that Roddy McDowall would have agreed. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is in theaters now.