Rise of the Planet of the Apes

You certainly can't accuse the makers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes of false advertising. We do get to see the apes rise, and the very early stages of their attack on humanity, which comes as a result of their increased intelligence from science and drugs, and an airborne disease that in this movie is still just a little bug that's going around. The movie works, in that it takes a fairly ludicrous idea, and makes it plausible for 105 minutes or so. It's not a great summer movie along the lines of the final Harry Potter film, but it's fun.

What surprised me about the film is despite the presence of skilled actors like James Franco, John Lithgow, and Brian Cox in the cast, the apes are the real stars of the movie, almost to the point that some of the actors seem to be doing walk-ons. The lead ape is Caesar, who is brought to life through a combination of CG effects, and a very effective motion capture performance by actor Andy Serkis. You probably remember Serkis as Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also provided the physical motion capture performance as the title character in Peter Jackson's King Kong remake, which I'm sure helped a little in getting him this job. Caesar is born extremely intelligent, because his mother was an experimental lab animal who was a test subject of Will Rodman (James Franco), a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer's. The drug he uses on Caesar's mom has some unintended benefits, as it also increases brain capacity to astounding levels. These benefits are also passed down genetically to their offspring. When Caesar's mother is tragically killed, Will takes baby Caesar home with him, "for only a couple days".

Those days turn to years, as Caesar grows and begins to show almost human-levels of intelligence, due to the drug. Will tries the drug out on his father (John Lithgow) as well, who is the inspiration of his research into Alzheimer's, as his father is slowly slipping away mentally. His private experiments on both Caesar and his father yield different results. While his father enjoys heightened intelligence for a time, he begins to gradually slip back, and rejects the drug. Caesar, on the other hand, only grows in intelligence, and begins to become curious about the outside world, which is not a good thing, especially since the ape comes across as being fiercely protective of the humans he lives with. It's inevitable that the ape escapes and causes some chaos, so Will is forced to send Caesar to a shady animal sanctuary run by a slimy individual (Brian Cox), and his equally slimy son (Tom Felton from the Harry Potter films), who takes great enjoyment in abusing the animals he's supposed to look after. But, what do you expect in an animal sanctuary that's run by the original "Dr. Hannibal Lector" and "Draco Malfoy"?

It's at this point that the movie pretty much centers solely on Caesar, as he learns not to trust humans, and begins to show such levels of heightened intelligence that he can plot, scheme, and make crude weapons. The other primates at the sanctuary are soon following his example, and we eventually get what we've come to see - those damn dirty apes turning against humanity in large numbers. We see Caesar and his fellow apes sweep across the suburbs, and ultimately into the city, where they stage a siege on the Golden Gate Bridge. The effects here are a mixed bag. Oh sure, the CG apes look good enough, but their movements are sometimes a bit too loose, or they just don't look right in some shots. Still, the filmmakers deserve credit. The big ape attack could have come across as silly, but the movie finds the right tone, so we're drawn into the action, rather than laughing at it. My only complaint is that the studio has used most of this sequence in their ad campaign, so there's not a lot new to see.

With so much focus on the apes, this leaves the human cast with very little to do. Most of them are two dimensional character types, anyway. We have the greedy lab boss (David Oyelowo), the obnoxious next door neighbor who is violent and aggressive, Will's assistant (Tyler Labine) who becomes the first victim of the airborne disease, and a supportive girlfriend for Will (Frieda Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire). They fill their roles well enough, but they're really just required to repeat the same basic character traits in every scene. The apes are the real stars here, which I guess makes sense in this case. Still, I would have liked to have been a little more attached to the human characters. It would have made the plot developments that come during the film's final moments hit a little harder. The movie also has a sometimes hurried pace. I can understand there's a lot of plot to cover in under two hours, but I would have liked a little more time to let things sink in.

I'm still recommending the movie, because it's fun while it lasts, and it does what it sets out to do. We come not for deep characters or insightful dialogue, but to see apes plot and scheme, and there's plenty of that here. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is certainly much better than Tim Burton's ill-fated attempt to reboot the franchise back in 2001, and will probably win over old fans, and make some new ones. There's a lot to like here, it's just not all that memorable when it's over.

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