About Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
From WETA, the creators of Avatar comes the ultimate sci-fi re-boot–Rise of the Planet of the Apes. An origin story set in present day San Francisco, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.
Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
Runtime: 105 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
In essence, Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a sort of remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) which was the fourth installment in the original series and showed how Caesar, the son of Cornelius and Zira, rose to power at the head of an ape slave rebellion. The format here is a little different.
Scientific experiments pioneered by Will Rodman (James Franco) at Gen-Sys are searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease. Chimpanzees are being used in the experiments and the drugs mutate one of the primates, increasing her level of intelligence. When the chimp goes on the rampage and is killed Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) orders the remaining chimps to be killed and the project ended. However, Will discovers the chimp’s aggression was born not of the drug but of maternal instinct in defending her new born baby. Will takes the orphaned chimp home and raises him. Will’s father Charles (John Lithgow) who is suffering with Alzheimer’s names the chimp Caesar (Andy Serkis) and he soon grows up with the same intelligence as his mother. What begins as a peaceful co-existence turns very dark when Caesar begins to look and question what he is and witnessing other chimps in captivity instils in him a fierce insurgence to lead his kind to freedom.
Breaking from the format of the long narrative told in the original series, Rise of the Planet of the Apes throws in an interesting angle with Caesar’s intelligence being inherited from the experiments on his mother. Though devoted to Will and Charles, Caesar begins to look at things differently in the outside world. When Caesar witnesses a dog on a leash he thinks of himself as a pet. At the behest of his girlfriend Caroline (Freida Pinto), Will tells Caesar the truth of his origins and it begins to create a gulf between them. After attacking a neighbour, Caesar is taken away and thrown into captivity with other primates where the luxuries of the life he once knew are taken from him. A bullied outcast, Caesar’s resentment for his existence boils over into open rebellion. He gains control of the primates and begins to plot their escape.
I enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes. After the disappointment of Tim Burton’s remake, this is a very welcome return to form. Some of the story seems unfinished though which is a downside but an inevitable sequel will surely clear a lot of this up. Caesar’s rise to power and his leadership as the apes head out into the city is fantastic. It’s always amusing watching humans assuming the task will be easy only to discover the apes are much smarter than they ever could have imagined.
Inevitably Rise of the Planet of the Apes cannot quite match up to the masterpiece that is the original but considering the other films I’ve previously seen I would say this one has comfortably nailed its place as the second best Ape film yet. Hopefully a sequel will follow and will prove even better than this one.
Verdict: 4/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
Film Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
