Monday, August 15, 2011

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Long name, great movie



When this movie was announced, I was extremely skeptical. A prequel to one of the best classic movies ever? I finally saw a few previews and I just got a little more doubtful. It looked more like an attack movie rather than a true story. The reviews began to pour out for this movie and I was shocked. I had to see for myself how good this movie is. Let’s just say that I came out stunned and wanting more.

Rise of the Apes, as I will now refer to it, starts when scientist Will Rodman, James Franco, makes a breakthrough in his research to cure Alzheimer’s, but when something goes wrong, Will’s project is shut down, forcing him to put down all of his ape test subjects. Will finds out that one of his subjects had a baby, and so he decides to take it home with him and name it Caesar. Will finds that this chimp is especially smart due to the fact that he was born from an ape that was given his Alzheimer’s medication. As Caesar grows up, he becomes bigger and more powerful, not to mention much smarter. When something happens, Caesar is put into an ape “sanctuary” with tons of less smart apes. From then on, you probably know what happens.

Now the thing about Rise of the Apes, is that James Franco is not the main character. Instead, the story focuses on the CGI ape, Caesar. A CGI primate as a main character is not something seen often, but for this movie it works. Caesar acts more like a human than any other ape in the movie, and this lets him convey emotion, particularly through his body movements. But the movements aren’t done by animators, it is done by the immensely talented Andy Serkis, known for the voice and movements of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I cannot give this man enough credit for his contribution to this movie, and it makes me wonder if he could get a nomination for best actor.

The only other prominent characters in this film are James Franco and Tom Felton. Franco does a laudable job, but I know that he’s done better. After seeing 127 Hours I expected a little more engrossment in his part, but it never seemed to shine through. Felton, best known for being Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, does a nice job as the bully in the ape “sanctuary.” Felton does what he does best, and he does it well.

The strong direction in Rise of the Apes is done by Rupert Wyatt, a relative newcomer to film direction. The pans and camera movements that accentuate the movements and feelings of Caesar are flawless, not to mention the action sequence at the end of the movie. It seems that Mr. Wyatt will be getting a few new gigs, pending he hasn’t signed up for this movie’s eventual sequel.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an extremely interesting look on society, and quite a powerful movie as well. There was this one point when something slightly funny happened and then boom. Something intriguing occurs and the whole audience looked straight at the screen and realized this movie’s seriousness. If only the acting was better and the movie didn’t scream for a sequel, Rise of the Apes could have been one of the best movies of the year. 8.5/10

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