Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on August 5, 2011 (my 18th birthday), and is a prequel/reboot in the famous Planet of the Apes film series. It was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, directed by Rupert Wyatt, and stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis.





I saw the original Planet of the Apes, and Tim Burton's remake. I saw the original when I was very young, and I don't remember much about it, aside from the basics, and of course, the famous twist. I do remember more of the remake, and I remember it to be quite bad. It left a sour taste in my mouth, and I didn't ever really intend to watch the other Planet of the Apes films. The original is on the list, so I will watch that. Aside from that, I had no real intention of watching any of the other films. I didn't even intend to see this film, I just saw it by chance.

I went into this film thinking I would hate it, or at the very least, find it to be underwhelming. However, when I heard good reviews, I was intrigued, but not enough to go see it. And then by chance, I ended up seeing it with a few friends, and came out genuinely surprised at the fact that it wasn't bad, but actually pretty good.

While certainly not a great film, it was a good film. The detrimental points were mostly the uselessness of Freida Pinto (if you take her out of the film, nothing major changes), and the lack of Brian Cox (underused, and not seen in or near the ending). But everything else was actually quite good. The showstealer, obviously, was Andy Serkis, playing Caesar, the revolutionary ape. He played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (reprising the role again in next years Hobbit), and King Kong in Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic, both roles entirely done in a combination of acting, motion-capture, and CGI. He was brilliant in both of those, and brilliant in this as well. He plays Caesar like a young child, excited in learning new things, and loving his family. However, due to the fact that he is first and foremost, a chimpanzee, he is imprisoned, with other apes. Using his intelligence, he becomes their leader, and starts an ape revolution, by making the apes intelligent. Andy Serkis was not only the perfect choice to play Caesar, he was also the only choice. This is how Andy Serkis makes his career, essentially playing creatures through CGI. He was absolutely brilliant, and while he won't be nominated for an Oscar, he definitely deserves a nomination, or at least recognition.

The other actors were very good as well. James Franco is our lead, and he does good. Nothing special. He wasn't horrible, he wasn't great. Freida Pinto's character was essentially useless, but regardless, she was believable, and relatively good. In my opinion, John Lithgow is a tremendous actor, whether he is a playing a sad old man suffering from Alzheimer's, or television's greatest serial killer. He was the former here, and was tremendous. He made us feel sad, and extremely happy at some points. While Brian Cox wasn't used enough, he was very good, as he normally is, and his presence was sorely missed in the end.  It's good to see Tom Felton furthering his career, especially so soon after the Harry Potter films ended. And not only that, but he wasn't half bad in this. Come to think of it, he was one of the best actors in it. He had a career before Harry Potter, and it looks like he'll have one after Harry Potter too. (He also said, "take your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" Well, they had to put it in somewhere.) I'd also like to mention David Hewlett, the angry neighbour. He is a Canadian actor, who has only done Canadian productions (Cube, the Stargate shows), but is a very good actor. While every role I've seen him in, he's usually playing a calm character, he displays sheer anger here. Despite being in a small role, he was my favourite part of this film for two reasons. One, his character was the first to feel the wrath of Caesar, and two, because it is good to see this great actor's career furthering into Hollywood.

The film was able to function on its own, as a film separate of the Planet of the Apes franchise, and that's what makes it so good. The writing of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver was very good. They were able to shine through Caesar, which is definitely the best part about this film. While I don't know the Planet of the Apes universe, I imagine that this film probably isn't 100% correct in that universe. However, there a good number of references to the original film as well. Aside from the aforementioned famous quote, we sees news reports about the first manned mission to Mars, and how it becomes lost in space. This spacecraft was in Planet of the Apes, and while I don't remember much about the original film, I do remember that.

One more thing I'd like to mention: the CGI. The CGI was not just used for Caesar, but all of the apes. It looked fantastic. From gorillas to orangutans to silverbacks, they all look unbelievably real. In action sequences, they can look a bit fake sometimes, but aside from that, it looks absolutely brilliant. The gorilla was, without a doubt, the best looking of all, looking like a miniature King Kong. We've come a long way from having men wear fake looking ape costumes.

Overall, this film, while not perfect, was a nice little addition to the Planet of the Apes film series, and it leaves me hopeful and excited for a sequel. Overall, I give this film a 7.5/10. A nice little film with some great CGI and a great performance from Andy Serkis. A definite a-must if you're a fan of the Planet of the Apes film series, but if not, check it out anyways. You'll probably like it.