Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Shockingly excellent. For me this film was a massive surprise. When I first heard about the film I think I actually sighed; I just really didn't see the need for it. I was pretty sure it would be awful; I mean Razzie award winning levels of awful. Then I saw the trailer and TV spots and I become intrigued. They seemed to show a bit of promise, and the final product certainly matched and far exceeded my expectations.

I just really wasn't sure how they would do it. I had assumed from the original film that man had wiped itself out in a nuclear war, and that in the wasteland the apes had evolved to fill the gap. So I was interested to see what role the humans played in the evolution of the apes, but still struggled to comprehend how they could make a handful of apes a threat to 6 billion humans. By the end of the film however I was convinced. We see how the humans are going to dwindle away, and how the apes will rise to replace them. In those terms it's a great success. It's very well written and planned out. The path they go down to explain the evolution of the apes is not just all about that, it allows them to look at a number of issues such as nature v nurture, animal testing and the ethical questions that go along with DNA manipulation; just what do we have the right to do?


For a big summer blockbuster it was quite rare in that it wasn't constantly rushing to throw in another bit of action. It takes it's time to really build up and flesh out the story, giving us a reason to care when the action does show up. Other than a couple of ape v ape scraps the action is mostly withheld until the last 20-30 minutes, and when it arrives it certainly delivers. What we get is a fantastic action set-piece set on the Golden Gate Bridge, pitting the army of apes against police officers trying to stop them. It's one of the most enjoyable and gripping action set-pieces I've seen in quite a while. For his first shot at a film on this scale, director Rupert Wyatt deserves a lot of credit. He brings a lot of style and energy.

The special effects and technology on show are truly stunning. The creation of the apes has got to be one of the most impressive achievements to date in the field of CGI. In particular the large gorilla and the former circus orangutan are just amazing in their realisation. As for Caesar himself I'm a little torn. I wouldn't say he looks like a real-life ape, but he is still a wonderful creation. His face just seems a little too human, though perhaps that was a choice made by the makers of the film to show how in many ways he was more human than ape.

James Franco is a decent, watchable lead and it's always a treat to see John Lithgow in absolutely anything, he certainly gives the best of the 'human' performances. But this is certainly Andy Serkis' show, no doubt about it. Just as with Gollum the character he brings to life is just incredible; full of expressions and mannerisms that are all his own, not quite fully human but also not ape. He fills the character with heart, soul and yes, humanity. You really end up caring about and rooting for this little ape to rise up. It's a mesmerising performance, and the relationship that builds up between Franco, Lithgow and Caesar is a very touching and tender one. In many ways Caesar becomes a part of the family. I don't know if a motion capture performance will ever win an Oscar, but if someone ever does I'd be very surprised if it wasn't Serkis.


Serkis is helped to create the character by the script which provides Caesar with some lovely moments. The moment where he recreates the window from his home by drawing on the walls of his cage is a very touching visual. And the fact that he did not want to hurt people if he could avoid it, people who were just doing their job, was a nice touch. Only those who had committed cruel acts towards them were killed. Oh and despite expecting it throughout the film, the moment where Caesar finally speaks is still able to carry great power.

As a massive fan of the original 1968 Apes film I got a real kick out of the little nods made to it. So the references to the space flight that Heston's character would have been involved in, and Caesar playing with a little toy replica of the Statue of Liberty produced a little smile for me.

What I think makes the film work really well is the fact that instead of being about the humans, this film is more about the apes, Caesar in particular. It just gives it a fresh feeling and perspective.

As for weak points I really don't think there are a great deal of them. There are a couple of characters that are a bit weak and simplistic perhaps. Franco's boss, Jacobs, comes across as a bit of a panto villain, totally consumed by money, money, money! Another review I saw somewhere had the line “he's such an obvious bad guy that he might as well come on twirling a moustache.” Then at the complete polar opposite there is Franco's girlfriend, Caroline, the moral compass of the film. She only seems to be there so she can constantly tell us how some things aren't meant to be messed with, not meant to be changed. I just found her to be very irritating.


It was also one of those films that perhaps suffered a bit from most of the major moments already popping up in the trailer. A lot of the moments which could have been 'wow moments' I had already seen numerous times. I understand why they did it however. After the, shall we say, lukewarm reception (and yes that is being really quite kind) for Tim Burton's Apes film, the studio had good reason to fear audiences may not have great interest in returning to the franchise, so they jam-packed the trailer with as much kick-ass stuff as they could to grab the attention of cinema-goers.

Oh and the famous line from the original film - “Get your stinkin' paws off me you damn dirty ape!”- is resurrected here, and for me it just felt a little forced and cringey. But other than that it's just fantastic entertainment.


Conclusion – A complete and utter success. One of the most pleasantly surprising films I've seen in quite a while. For me personally it's the film of the summer, and one of the films of the year so far.