The Summer Cineaste: Rise of the Planet of the Apes [Review]

Completely ignoring Tim Burton's ill-conceived 2001 "re-imagining" of the original 1968 sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes, this summer's quasi-prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes is instead one of that new breed of reboot -- much like J. J. Abrams' recent Star Trek film, it fits with the original in the series, but offers a divergent path for the future of the series. Presumably, it's a sort of prequel to the Charlton Heston film, but owes no allegiance to the canon of that films' four sequels. That means that director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) has left himself room for a brand new franchise. Well, if Rise is any indication as to what that franchise will look like, bring on the monkeys.

Despite Rise intentionally setting itself up for sequels, it remains the story of how humans ultimately lost the world to apes. Fortunately, Wyatt and his team are more than up to the task of telling a compelling and often surprising story even though we already know the ending (if you don't, you may want to stop reading here and rent the 1968 film instead). So how does one tell the story of the end of the world as we know it when we all know exactly where Lady Liberty's head eventually ends up? Apparently, with care, precision, and a soft touch.

It seems like a joke that the star of perhaps the most humane film of the summer is not only an ape, but a computer-generated one at that. Yes it is the hyper-intelligent Caesar and not James Franco who's the real star of Rise, but there's very little about that that's distracting or negative. Beginning with baby Caesar's salvation from Gen-Sys labs by Dr. Will Rodman (Franco), a scientist working on an Alzheimer's serum, the film goes on to tell the story of the growing friendship and familial bond between the two. Spanning eight years, this section of the movie moves at a comfortable and slow pace, truly giving us time to grow to care for the unique nuclear family at the film's core. Caesar, played by physicality-whiz-kid Andy Serkis in motion-capture (he was also King Kong in Peter Jackson's remake), may not speak, but Serkis' performance is moving and absorbing -- we truly feel for Caesar as he learns about the world, and when the inevitable moment of tragedy comes, it is devastating.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes comes to an epic conclusion -- and one we all know is coming to boot, but it moves there in such a resolutely organic way that once never does it feel forced, and never once does a plot device feel too deliberate. Growing out of a truly loving relationship between Will and Caesar, the movie is free to turn relatable human drama into metaphor -- Caesar's quest for self-vindication and independence isn't unlike that of a child growing into an adult; his exposure to the cruelties of the real world and his intelligent decision to rebel against them are sympathetic, and that's the real miracle here. Much like the original, Rise manages to tell a thoroughly entertaining sci-fi tale with echoes on both sides of the conflict about what it means to be human. Never has an effects-driven blockbuster had so much heart -- or at least, never has one played it with such confident subtlety.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is now playing in wide release. It is rated PG-13.

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By Adam Protextor in Arts & Entertainment on August 6, 2011 8:00 AM 0 Comments

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mrtexasfreedom

Great observations here by elvis and adam. I enjoyed the movie on Saturday as well.

Looking forward to the next one as it'll inevitably be post-apocalyptic. I'm betting it will be set 6 months or a year later when those astronauts come back from the first Mars visit (mentioned on a tv broadcast in one scene). From that, I'm betting James Franco will not be in the next movie. The lead (human) will likely be played by one of the returning astronauts.-- mtf

elvisnixoncom

What "The Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is Really About

The excellent new film purports to be a "re-imagining" of the origins of the Planet of the Apes saga. Set in the modern day San Francisco Bay area, the film is a vast improvement over the muddled mess that was the Tim Burton effort of a decade ago. The acting is fine and CGI apes look great. To placate fans of the POTA series, they pay homage to the original in a variety of fun ways; "Bright Eyes" is what Taylor (Charlton Heston) is called by Cornelius and Zira in the first film, the guard is seen watching Heston as Moses - who sets his people free, in The Ten Commandments (an unlikely film choice for a low IQ guard at a primate facility), but it is the films plot and subversive message that is appealing.

The appeal of the POTA series has always been the subtext.

The original series dealt with the issues of the late 60's: cold war fears of nuclear holocaust, the black civil rights, and protest movement doves (the chimps) versus war-mongering hawks (the gorillas).

These themes played themselves out across all five of the original films. The first two (Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes) are set in our distant future while Escape From the Planet of the Apes was the only movie with a contemporary (1974) setting, and Conquest was set in the (then) near future of 1991(a fact that is inexplicably obscured in later DVD releases of the film. If anyone out there knows why, I am interested.)

Conquest is the most revolutionary of the series with a full blown radicalism and pretty blatant references to the Black Power movement of the day. Caesar even appeals to a Black man ( it is unclear if the character is living in America ) with the plea "You of all people should understand."

The racial elements are well documented in Eric Greene's magisterial 1996 book Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture

The series tones down all the race war implications in the final installment, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, by having Caesar join forces with humans against war-mongering, troglodyte mutants and eventually a gorilla general memorably named Urko.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes on new subject areas, aging baby Boomers/ dementia specifically, and the touchy subject of IQ and destiny.

Freedom is predicated on intelligence. Being smart, it seems, is a necessary antecedent to freedom.

The stupid are slaves because they are stupid, and not the reverse. The Aristotelian logic of some being "slaves by nature" seems to be the argument.

This is not to say that those who are less intelligent will not have cultures of their own. They will and they do.The scenes of Caesar's incarceration resemble nothing less than that of a prison yard, complete with overly macho posturing and gang-banger attitudes and behaviors.

Caesar's politeness and intelligence are seen as threatening behavior by the low-IQ simians.

Only when the smart chimp uses his superior reasoning to divide and exploit the monkey house multiculturalism does he gain freedom from being a victim.

Some reviewers misinterpret the film to be more liberal happy talk against animal testing. This is simply absurd. The film seems to be an extended paean to the benefits of testing potential Alzheimer cures on apes for the benefit human superiors.

The film continues the science fiction tradition of masking uncomfortable "us versus them" issues in an era of political correctness that marks such discussion as verboten "crime think."

EVERY movie,book,play is about something

EVERYTHING has a message

Waiting For Godot is pointless because existentialists believe LIFE is pointless.

Even Seinfeld- a "show about nothing" was about Larry David struggling to make RULES for a world that rejected the RULES of the 1960's

hence episodes about double dipping,re gifting etc...

THIS is about something- IQ and it's implications for freedom and government.

http://elvisnixon.com/2011/08/...