Rise of the Planet of the Apes: A Modern Take on a Classic
Will Rodman (Franco), a scientist developing a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, takes home a baby chimpanzee after its mother – deemed a failed experiment – is terminated. The chimpanzee, named Caesar, exhibits near-human intelligence and begins to question his species’ place on Earth. After an incident involving a neighbor, Caesar is confined to an ape sanctuary, where he instigates a rebellion.
In the wake of the groundbreaking success of “Star Wars,” memories of earlier science fiction franchises began to fade. However, before George Lucas signed with 20th Century Fox, the studio’s flagship property was “Planet of the Apes” (1968). Based on a French novel, the 1968 film – a blend of Flash Gordon-esque fantasy-action and Swiftian satire – spawned sequels (with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” originally titled “Battle for the Planet of the Apes”), a television series, comics, merchandise, masks, toys, and more. A decade ago, Tim Burton directed his “reimagining,” achieving little more than a slight improvement in makeup. Now, Rupert Wyatt – with only one previous film, “The Escapist,” a well-received British crime drama starring Brian Cox, who also has a substantial role in the new film – has contributed to the ape saga, significantly altering the approach. The result is an alternative version of “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (where Caesar, a talking chimpanzee oppressed by humans, leads a revolt among his dim-witted brethren against the “damn dirty humans”), cleverly and elegantly interwoven with the original films.
One of the opening scenes, in which the protagonist’s mother is pursued by humans with nets, is a direct homage to the chase scene involving Charlton Heston in the first film, and its key lines now resonate in a new context. There’s even a nod to the missing space mission and the Statue of Liberty, as well as another primate-related apocalypse (“12 Monkeys”). So, assuming the fans are satisfied, how does the film fare otherwise? Frankly, its dramatic ambitions are a bit overreaching. The powerful storyline about the relationship between the main human character, played by James Franco, and his father (John Lithgow) succumbing to dementia, tells a story that “The Deep Blue Sea” (2011) conveyed in a couple of lines, while taking too much time away from Caesar’s evolution (a truly remarkable CGI creation brought to life by Andy Serkis): from beloved foundling to imprisoned martyr and revolutionary tactician.
Apes Together Strong
It’s only when Caesar assembles a troop of intelligent primates that the film truly takes off, becoming a sci-fi-infused “soap opera”.
The Climax
“Rise…” rewards the patient viewer with the best final action sequence of the summer: an armed police force confronts the newly intelligent apes on the Golden Gate Bridge – a battle between humans, trapped in two-dimensional thinking, and primates who can both climb and shoot.