"RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES" — ★★★ — James Franco, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis; PG-13 (intense and frightening sequences of action and violence); area theaters
Emerging from its B-movie roots, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a daring bit of filmmaking. It follows the disastrous 2001 "Planet of the Apes" remake and all the actors in monkey suit movies that came before that and dares to rework the genesis and reinvent the origin of the entire series.
With the inevitable ape conclusion hanging over it the same way that monsters hide in the shadows of horror flicks, director Rupert Wyatt takes time to carefully introduce characters with good intentions and good hearts. James Franco is satisfactory as scientist Will Rodman trying to halt or reverse the effects of his father's (John Lithgow) dementia.
Unwillingly, he raises chimp Caesar, who through chemistry and genetics, is intelligent and constantly getting smarter. Played through performance capture by Andy Serkis, we watch the young chimp develop toward the inevitable conclusion suggested by the film's title.
Serkis and Weta Digital innovated digital acting with Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and grew it with "King Kong." And it's Serkis' performance that is by far the best part of the film. Working almost exclusively with nonverbal acting, he manages to feel like a genuine ape crossing the bridge from animal to human intelligence. In fact, the apes, all digital, connect with the audience without feeling artificial. The performances combined with the technical achievement here are astounding.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film can't quite keep pace. The writing is sloppy for the film's bad guys, falling into one-note cliched roles animal keepers (Tom Felton) and villainous neighbors (David Hewlett). And, after a thoughtful and patient setup, when the promised action finally comes, the intelligent primates become suddenly too stupid to open doors, preferring instead to crash through industrial glass without any injuries. They also multiply like cockroaches with every shot seemingly multiplying their numbers.
A little humor wouldn't have hurt, either, leaving the bleak, mostly intelligent, sci-fi doomsday, almost-horror film a bit relentless. But, it does manage to pose interesting ethical questions about animals and intelligence. It has us not only caring about Caesar and his hairy band, but also rooting for them, at least somewhat.
The film is much better than some of its Apes movie forefathers, and it is interesting but bleak. Despite its efforts to develop its main characters, it belongs completely to Serkis and the other performance-capture actors.
A major sub-plot is addressed in the closing credits, so don't leave too soon.
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is rated PG-13 for intense and frightening sequences of action and violence; running time: 105 minutes
3 points for parents
Violence: Animal attacks on humans and other animals. Guns and improvised weapons used. Harsh treatment of animals in cages. Death.
Language: Mild
Gore: Some blood, but not much.'Rise' is a wonderful reboot of the Apes franchise
By SHAWN O'NEILL
FOR THE Deseret News
In the revolving Lazy Susan of stories that is Hollywood, there is a trend now to "reboot" a movie franchise in order to make more money. Simply start over again and the same people who paid their money before will do it again.
Now we have the reboot of a franchise that started in 1968 with Charlrton Heston and "Planet of the Apes."
In "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at GEN SYS, a company researching different drugs to improve human life. Will has developed a drug that will repair the brain. The chimp Bright Eyes has been treated and is showing rapid progress. While Will is reporting to the board on the new drug, Bright Eyes goes on a rampage and is eventually put down. The man in charge at GEN SYS, Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo), has all the chimps put down, believing them to be contaminated.
When the staff goes back to Bright Eyes' cage they find that she was not going feral. Instead, she was protecting something, her newborn baby. Will takes the baby chimp home awaiting placement for it in another lab. He discovers that the baby chimp has the same green flecks in its eyes that its mother had after getting the drug and assumes the drug's effects have been passed on to the baby.
He's right.
At first you might think this is another old tale being retold to make more money, and on one level that may be true. But it is also a wonderful reboot for this franchise. It brings it up to date and makes it interesting. This is not a retelling of the stories from three decades ago — this is fresh, and it is good. The filmmakers have taken portions of the old story and gone a different way way.
The special effects in this film are fantastic. The only shortcoming was the greedy head of GEN SYS, Jacobs. He was too stereotypical in his actions. Plus, there was a back story involving him and one of the chimps that could have been explained better.
If you have children who want to see this film, you will want to know that there is a lot of violence. There are some characters who die in this film and you will see some blood. The language is mild and the only sensuality is some kissing. This movie is worth seeing. The story moves along well and keeps you wanting more. You will get more, too.
I'm giving this movie 3.5 stars out of 4.
Shawn O'Neill is the Family Man Movie Reviewer on BYU Radio. His reviews can be heard on BYURadio.org and on SiriusXM Channel 143.