Rise of the Planet of the Apes was magnificent! I had my doubts and thought the movie was going to be rubbish but wow, was I wrong! I take notes when I watch a movie but this film made me put down my notebook and just stare at the screen in awe. The story was so captivating, the pace was spot on and the motion capture was unparalleled. If you don’t think you could watch apes for an entire movie, guess again…I could watch them all day long, they were fascinating! Rise of the Planet of the Apes made me want to watch the original 1968 again right away. Fans, it’s finally here…you won’t be disappointed.
Set in present day San Francisco (which was an added bonus for me now living in San Francisco), Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the prequel to Planet of the Apes showing us how it all began…how humans got overtaken by apes. James Franco is Will Rodman, a genetic scientist in search of a cure for alzheimer’s disease which plagues his father (John Lithgow). He believes in his dreams more than the science and wants to push the serum that he engineered ASAP. His company, led by a two-faced money-hungry boss (David Oyelowo), tests on chimpanzees. The vaccination, however, performs much better than expected (sort of like this movie) and instead of just curing the brain of alzheimer’s, it actually improves it…making the patient smarter. “Apes Stupid.” …not for long.
HOLD!
Powerful acting came from both species – human and ape. WETA’s technology has gotten so much better with every motion picture they’ve digitally touched (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, Avatar, etc). In almost every one of those projects, there has been an amazing traditional actor who lends his body to be animated – Andy Serkis – a master at his craft. The apes in the movie communicate via sign language but even more so through body language. The animators could not have done such an accurate job without the pinpoint acting of Serkis (Caesar) along with other digitally hidden actors – Karin Konoval (Maurice), Terry Notary (Rocket/Bright Eyes), Richard Ridings (Buck), Christopher Gordon (Koba) and Devyn Dalton (Cornelia). The core of this movie depends on the realism and intrigue of the apes and they pulled it off. Caesar, who becomes the leader of the apes, is so meticulous and calculated – it was a treat to watch him. The scenes where the apes interact with one another are truly astonishing.
James Franco and Freida Pinto in Rise of the Power of the Apes
The humans weren’t bad either
. But really, they were phenomenal especially while working with creatures that weren’t actually there. I couldn’t tell any disconnect between the actors and their animated counterparts. James Franco took the helm and delivered another powerful performance. I thought the tearjerker moments would be between him and Caesar, his adopted chimp, but they actually came between him and his father. John Lithgow played a heart wrenching old man with alzheimer’s. The feelings you caught from his teary eyes were excruciating. He wasn’t the centerpiece in this movie but he definitely made you focus on him. I don’t know what it is with recent movies and TV shows but it seems like the medical interest is always a cute Indian girl…I’m not complaining and Rise of the Planet of the Apes is no different. Freida Pinto (who you might remember from Slumdog Millionaire) plays Caroline Aranha, a zoologist who first takes care of Caesar but then takes care of Will. Tom Felton (Malfoy from Harry Potter) continues his streak of asshole roles with Dodge Landon, an animal caretaker who mistreats the apes in his “madhouse”. “NOOOO!”
This just looks funny...but don't worry, the movie is actually really good!
You will be completely enthralled by this movie. There’s not a slow moment or boring part in the entire film. From beginning to end, you will empathize will the chimps and anticipate the mayhem they eventually unleash on humankind. But wait, we are humankind! Oh well, bow down to your new ape overlords. The movie is really fun, it has humorous parts, the love interest and rom com parts, the cute and cuddly baby ape parts, the scary and thrilling big ape parts and a great standoff conclusion. Whenever I talked about this movie, someone would always butt in and ask, “but how could apes go up against men with guns?” Oh…you’ll see. Rise of the Planet of the Apes blew away all of my expectations and is definitely one of the must see movies of this summer. It has all of the excitement and visual flare of a blockbuster movie as well as the story and heart of a quality film. Just watch out and look over your shoulder for apes as you leave the theater…
Tags: Andy Serkis, Christopher Gordon, Devyn Dalton, Freida Pinto, James Franco, John Lithgow, Karin Konoval, Richard Ridings, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Terry Notary, Tom Felton
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
