Visual effects, cast performance keep viewers interested despite known ending
Under the stylish direction of Rupert Wyatt, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” presents a theme of class warfare while informing audiences what happens when you mess with Mother Nature. Being the prequel that it is, the movie doesn’t present much intrigue because the audience already knows where the story is going. However, this “Planet of the Apes” is more about the “how” than the “what.”
The story tells us that the Evolution Revolution began as a result of good scientific intentions gone awry. James Franco plays a brilliant, slightly dopey genetic researcher named Will who is working on a cure for victims of Alzheimer’s disease — like his father (John Lithgow). The test subjects for this cure are apes, who exhibit vast amounts of knowledge under the effects of the drug. Ultimately, Will rescues a baby chimp after the apes are ordered to be put down, naming him Caesar. Caesar’s own smarts were also caused by the drug while still in his mother’s uterus.
Further into the story, some logic begins to falter, and it veers into B-movie territory, introducing some familiar character types. However, we finally get to see Caesar’s first steps into becoming the primate rebellion leader. After displaying an act of violence in a Victorian neighborhood, Caesar gets taken to a primate facility where the apes are treated cruelly by the caretaker’s son (Tom Felton). Having adapted to survival skills and fed up with human cruelty, Caesar frees the apes and leads them in a revolt against the humans.
The effects in this movie are actually pretty astonishing. Every simian creature is completely computer-generated, and the motion-capture technology definitely brings something new to the franchise. Director Rupert Wyatt makes great enough use of the effects to completely distract audiences of the overall implausibility of the apes’ rise to revolution. The best moments are when the effects are put to full use during the apes’ rampage throughout San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge showdown is especially thrilling.
Franco is charismatic yet a bit off-key as the scientist who grows to love Caesar like a surrogate son. Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire” (2008)) basically just serves as the romantic interest who expresses her discomfort with the events leading toward the mayhem. Lithgow is as great as always as the father who suffers from dementia. Felton, (aka Draco Malfoy) gets the honor of saying the franchise’s signature line: “Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”
While the human performances are passable, the movie lacks a good variety of human characters. With the exception of two or three characters, most of the humans Caesar encounters are depicted as either money-hungry or absolute jerks, making the apes appear to be the protagonists of the film.
The best performance and the highlight of the film is Andy Serkis (best known as Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” series), who provides the facial expressions for Caesar. This is the same level of performance-capture developed by “Avatar” (2009) and allows Serkis’s eloquence as an actor to come through. Serkis makes the whole motion-capture effect work as he gives Caesar emotional depth and a sense of humanity (I say, “Oscar nomination”).
Throughout the film, references toward the franchise are presented, including the Icarus space shuttle. These references serve as hints toward possible sequels, hopefully as entertaining as this film. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is well-crafted, thrilling and arguably one of the better films in the franchise.