Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) review

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)         

Review by George Elcombe

“Another film about a man and his monkey”

Prequels / reboots are a tricky business these days. Mostly they’re made to cash in on franchises with an existing and well known fan base, and this trend of reboots is tedious to say the least.

My opinion is as John Walter’s: Remake the bad films, leave the classics alone. The best example of this is a 1957 b-movie called Zero Hour. A thriller about a passenger flight in turmoil when the crew and passengers succumb to food poisoning. Only one man can fly and land the plane, a traumatised ex fighter pilot. If this sounds familiar, well done, you have seen Airplane (1980) which is one of the funniest films ever made! So if you are going to remake a film, do something different with it.

But we have a hell of a lot of bad reboots / remakes recently: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), The Pink Panther (2006) and of course Planet of the Apes (2001) where Helena Bonham Carter looks like Michael Jackson. Having said that we have had some excellent reboots such as Batman Begins (2005), Casino Royal (2006) and my favourite television show Battlestar Galactica (2004 - 2009)

I am pleased to say that this film is up there with the latter and works incredibly well as a stand alone film and within the franchise cannon and I loved the reference to the space shuttle of the (1968) original.

Plot: an excellent James Franco plays a scientist / biologist (Will) who is researching a cure for Alzheimer’s and tests his serum on chimpanzees and other simians. One of his chimps goes ape (sorry, couldn’t resist it) and ends up getting shot and killed in an investor meeting. Unbeknownst to him and the company, the chimp is pregnant and gives birth to a son who was exposed to the cure during the womb. Will takes this chimp home and aptly names him Caesar. Caesar swiftly develops near human intelligence and begins to question his nature as a person or a pet and learns about his birth and why he is the way he is. He develops his own identity and questions his existence and alienation. Following an incident where he attacks a neighbour, he is impounded in a ‘sanctuary’ where he meets other primates and the guy who plays Draco in Harry Potter. He escapes to the lab to steal the serum (which is conveniently in gas form) and infects his fellow captors whom escape in a spectacular finale.

This film is great and engrossing with some excellent actors. James Franco conveys the desperate son tying to bring back the man his father was, whilst playing a father figure to Caesar. His father played by John Lithgow is excellent also yet a little underused. There are many touching scenes with Will’s father’s condition improving with the treatment then degenerating as the film progresses, my favourite being where Caesar helps him use a piece of cutlery to eat his food.

Which brings me to the ever excellent Andy Serkis, who seems to be the go to guy for motion capture these days. Serkis’ motion capture for Ceasar is amazing but it’s the performance he gives showing the evolution of this character throughout the film into a true leader.

This film also explores a few themes current in today’s zeitgeist: ones place in society, class systems, bullying, corporate greed capitalising on untested commercial products and its possible devastating effects. I may go into further details about this some other day but good sci-fi is very much grounded in and reflects modern day issues, exploring them through fantasy aspects to give the audience something to relate to.

However the simians own this movie. Not surprising considering the title, but once Caesar gathers his troops this film picks up pace and I loved the third act carnage. I just hope they make a sequel further exploring the evolution of the simians and their culture while humanity dies. Each of these primates has their own personality and Caesar utilises each one for his army. General scar is there and if you’ve ever wanted to see a gorilla take down a helicopter, then this film show it in an un-cheesy way. As the film progresses you feel empathy for the simians as their human captors have used them for their own selfish ‘inhumane’ lust for greed, without knowing the consequences for what they have created. The next rulers of the Earth.

Ultimately this is an excellent film which asks the question of what makes us human. And Andy Serkis should have won an Oscar for his performance.

8 out of 10

If you like this try

Planet of the Apes (1968)

King Kong (2005)