FILM REVIEW: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011)

20^th CENTURY FOX
DIRECTED BY: Rupert Wyatt

STARRING: James Franco, Andy Serkis

Holy crap, that was damn good! All the TV accolades beforehand had me at skepticism, but the reviews did not lie. More than anything, it had that wonderful subtlety and charm that movies like WALL-E create, that immerse and engage the viewer from start to finish, even through the few but wild action scenes. Despite his expertly-paced and silently-explained origin, I actually cared about Caesar rocking San Fran!

Another great element is the nature of which prequels are supposed to do, like with X-Men: First Class: explain everything important, and let the viewer do the rest.

Caesar is the star of the show; Franco and the “humans” give passable performances, though their emotional significance is both not-as-focused, and simply unparalleled compared to Caesar’s. The story is like a prequel should, an origin story, of the... Rise of Caesar, from an Einstein infant to a would-be warrior and leader of a gorilla army, all spectacularly paced for a surprising 90 minutes.

Caesar only says four words throughout the entire movie, yet those are only props to his exposition. The spectacular (specTACULAR, James Cameron!) CGI here takes “advantage” over the simple fact that apes aren’t human. Yet by the climax, we grow so attached to Caesar that we remember theirs is a difference between our kind. Caesar speaks to us through his human-like expressionism. Making him unspeakable only adds to the humanity and sympathy we grow for him, despite those little four words (and trust me, that first word you’ll here will REALLY getcha).

What detracts from this phenomenal movie experience, understandably, is the human side of the story. Again, Franco, Felton, and his cast give passable performances, but passable only. It all comes to a magic cure that cures Alzheimer’s, which takes years to develop; meanwhile, we are given a montage of Caesar’s own development. The magic cure by then is too good, that it has opposite effects for both apes and humans… However, by the middle of the movie, we’ll have guessed what happens next. And we’ll know who the ambitious one is, who the bad guys are, etc, etc, and their screentime is very limited to really pay attention to their worth.

However, it’s obvious this isn’t a story about humans. It’s a story about Caesar, and his expertly-told and paced story from an baby, to a playful child, to a confused and scared young adult, to… you get it. This is a good thing, though. The human story was a nice extra, but it wasn’t as necessary as it would seem. Because, again, it’s all about Caesar.

PLEASE keep in mind, however. I’m giving this a very good review, but that can come from the fact that I’m an Apes-newby. Unlike X-Men: First Class, I don’t know the source material so well (novels, or Carpenter movies) to catch the allusions or possible holes. But until I do, this film stands as one of those surprises, a very excellent prequel. Do I wish Any Serkis’ CGI performance was Oscar-able? Absolutely, hope it is. How ‘bout the amazing soundtrack and great editing? Yes. Will there be sequels to this? Perhaps. But as it stands, it’s an action movie with a balance of relentless Ape action, and a relentless touch of humanity. That’s enough for me, and I hope that’s enough for Apes fans.

☆☆☆☆
- Ant