Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis
Canadian Rating: PG
3.5 stars out of 4 (Very Good)
It’s been over 40 years since Charlton Heston graced the screen as the human who landed on a mysterious ape-inhabited planet only to discover it was Earth all along.
Unfortunately, since it’s 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t feature Heston’s manly gravitas so we’re left with James Franco as a monkey’s uncle instead.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes place in San Francisco in the not-too-distant-future. A young bright scientist by the name of Will Rodman (Franco) thinks he has discovered the cure for Alzheimer’s. A presentation of key specimen, an intelligent chimp named Bright Eyes on his new drug, is all that stands in his way before human trials, but in movies like this, we know it’s never that easy. The chimp goes ballistic and before the meeting can even begin, she is shot and killed. The research is terminated and Rodman is told to put down all the chimps and close shop.
But wait! What’s this? A baby chimp inside Bright Eyes’ cage? Turns out Bright Eyes wasn’t crazy, just hormonal due to her pregnancy. What’s better is that this baby chimp, named Caesar (Andy Serkis) by Rodman’s father (John Lithgow) who faces dementia himself, seems to have inherited his mother’s intelligence. Rather than put the chimp down, Rodman takes him home and begins to raise the animal himself, hoping that Caesar is proof that his drug works. Too bad for the humans that Caesar winds up proving to be more than just that.
It’s no secret that Serkis plays Caesar through motion-capture, the effective albeit strange technology where an actor acts in basically a grey skin-tight suit with dots all over his/her body and face. Serkis, whose work we were treated to as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as the great Kong himself in Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and most recently in Spielberg’s The Adventure of Tintin, absolutely steals the show here. He takes Caesar and creates more than just a physical performance. He makes him into an anti-hero we root for and sympathize with. Serkis has become a pioneer to this technology and watching its capabilities to capture the finer aspects of an actor’s face grow, like it does here with Caesar, are further proof of Serkis’ talents.
Sadly, a talented actor like Franco pales in comparison when sharing the screen with him. That is not to say that Franco’s acting work here requires little effort. Franco has to film each scene at least twice: once with Serkis in that grey dotty ridiculous jumpsuit and then again with nothing but thin air to make the CG effect appear seamless. Regardless, Serkis’ Caesar makes Franco’s character rather bland whereas his love interest Caroline, (Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire fame) gets the worst of it and doesn’t seem to really have much purpose other than eye-candy.
Still, director Rupert Wyatt has made the laughable notion of the Ape movie into something that actually comes off as quality entertainment. The camp factor still exists and is almost winking at you a few times (apes with spears? How can you resist the urge to smile?), but for what it’s worth, this is a well-executed film.
I remember sitting in a movie theatre a few months before it came out and seeing the trailer. I cringed that Hollywood was going back to this long-since dried up well of 4 sequels and 1 remake. Turns out that my preconceptions were wrong. A good film I approve of, though nothing to go ape-sh*t over.
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis
Canadian Rating: PG
3.5 stars out of 4 (Very Good)
It’s been over 40 years since Charlton Heston graced the screen as the human who landed on a mysterious ape-inhabited planet only to discover it was Earth all along.
Unfortunately, since it’s 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t feature Heston’s manly gravitas so we’re left with James Franco as a monkey’s uncle instead.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes place in San Francisco in the not-too-distant-future. A young bright scientist by the name of Will Rodman (Franco) thinks he has discovered the cure for Alzheimer’s. A presentation of key specimen, an intelligent chimp named Bright Eyes on his new drug, is all that stands in his way before human trials, but in movies like this, we know it’s never that easy. The chimp goes ballistic and before the meeting can even begin, she is shot and killed. The research is terminated and Rodman is told to put down all the chimps and close shop.
But wait! What’s this? A baby chimp inside Bright Eyes’ cage? Turns out Bright Eyes wasn’t crazy, just hormonal due to her pregnancy. What’s better is that this baby chimp, named Caesar (Andy Serkis) by Rodman’s father (John Lithgow) who faces dementia himself, seems to have inherited his mother’s intelligence. Rather than put the chimp down, Rodman takes him home and begins to raise the animal himself, hoping that Caesar is proof that his drug works. Too bad for the humans that Caesar winds up proving to be more than just that.
It’s no secret that Serkis plays Caesar through motion-capture, the effective albeit strange technology where an actor acts in basically a grey skin-tight suit with dots all over his/her body and face. Serkis, whose work we were treated to as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as the great Kong himself in Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and most recently in Spielberg’s The Adventure of Tintin, absolutely steals the show here. He takes Caesar and creates more than just a physical performance. He makes him into an anti-hero we root for and sympathize with. Serkis has become a pioneer to this technology and watching its capabilities to capture the finer aspects of an actor’s face grow, like it does here with Caesar, are further proof of Serkis’ talents.
Sadly, a talented actor like Franco pales in comparison when sharing the screen with him. That is not to say that Franco’s acting work here requires little effort. Franco has to film each scene at least twice: once with Serkis in that grey dotty ridiculous jumpsuit and then again with nothing but thin air to make the CG effect appear seamless. Regardless, Serkis’ Caesar makes Franco’s character rather bland whereas his love interest Caroline, (Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire fame) gets the worst of it and doesn’t seem to really have much purpose other than eye-candy.
Still, director Rupert Wyatt has made the laughable notion of the Ape movie into something that actually comes off as quality entertainment. The camp factor still exists and is almost winking at you a few times (apes with spears? How can you resist the urge to smile?), but for what it’s worth, this is a well-executed film.
I remember sitting in a movie theatre a few months before it came out and seeing the trailer. I cringed that Hollywood was going back to this long-since dried up well of 4 sequels and 1 remake. Turns out that my preconceptions were wrong. A good film I approve of, though nothing to go ape-sh*t over.