Mania Grade: B+

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Starring: Andy Serkis, James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton and Brian Cox
Written by: Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 120 minutes
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Mania Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Warning: they fling poo.

By Rob Vaux August 05, 2011

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
© 20th Century Fox/Robert Trate

Note to the Academy: are you going to give Andy Serkis his freaking Oscar now or what?

Serkis pioneered what they’re currently calling “performance capture,” the art of digitally rendering an actor’s movements and facial features to create a CGI character onscreen. His Gollum in The Lord of the Rings was a watershed moment for the technology, and now -- as the intelligent chimpanzee Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes – he reminds us that such technology can only work with a great actor behind it. Caesar’s pixilated features still betray a few signs of artifice, but one look into his eyes and any sense of disconnect vanishes. We feel every step of his journey from birth to simian Moses, and Serkis ensures we’re in his corner throughout.

Fans of the Planet of the Apes franchise shouldn’t be surprised. These movies always tended to side with the gorillas, and this one is no exception. Caesar begins life as an unwelcome surprise: birthed in a science lab, gifted with extraordinary intelligence and hidden by his mother while their lab-coated captors search for a cure to Alzheimer s. She’s killed and the project is shut down, while he becomes the secret ward of Will Rodman (James Franco). Rodman believes in the drug they were studying, and thinks that the young chimp may hold the key. But he also has compassion for Caesar and the other apes in the lab. Sadly, he seems to be the only one, as Caesar learns to his horror and humanity’s ultimate folly.

If you’ve seen any earlier Apes films – or even just the previews for this one – you can guess where it leads. But the predictability of the overall arc can’t hide the countless fresh and engaging details that director Rupert Wyatt plants throughout the film. He paints the apes with supreme sympathy, and yet never shortchanges humanity’s complexity as villains. We see our arrogance and cruelty on full display, but also our compassion and willingness to make great sacrifices for others. That lends the resulting conflict an eerie plausibility, despite the presence of few easy stereotypes and some pseudo-scientific hand-waving. Give an ape some real brains, and the capacity to reproduce them, and who’s to say this wouldn’t be the result?

Serkis is the straw that stirs the drink: tying us into Caesar’s world with aching emotional truth. We sense his changing perceptions of himself, from a unique child to a persecuted freak and finally as the leader of a new order that may be more deserving of this world than the current managers. His psychological development girds Rise of the Planet of the Apes with real intelligence: the first film in the franchise to even pretend to match the brilliance of the 1968 original.

Which isn’t to say it skimps on action. Wyatt approaches Caesar’s various dilemmas with imagination and skill, leading up to a showdown on the Golden Gate Bridge that stands as one of the summer’s highlights. He also finds a few moments to tip his cap to the first film… heartfelt and clever winks devoid of the smugness that helped kill the Tim Burton remake. Indeed, the film’s most stunning moment – the one that really sends jaws thudding to the theater floor – begins as an already cool riff on the famous “damn dirty apes” line, before taking a turn into the wholly unexpected.

“Wholly unexpected” actually sums up the entire movie pretty well. When Fox announced that they were remaking the fourth (and possibly the weakest ) of the Apes movies, people thought they were nuts. How wonderful it is to be proven wrong here, with a touching, exciting and even thoughtful coda to the latest blockbuster season. As for Serkis, we always knew how good he was. It’s up to the Academy to look past the digital monkey suit and see this extraordinary performance for what it is.

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COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

vitieddie 8/5/2011 12:09:05 AM

Going to watch it tomorrow ... should be good

SarcasticCaveman 8/5/2011 12:52:48 AM

Can't wait. REALLY looking forward to it. And yeah, Serkis should have had an Oscar long before now. Gollum may have been CGI, but he was based entirely off of Serkis' acting and movements. Oh, and if you're the one who hasn't seen it, you can probably find it on youtube - Gollum's acceptance speech for Best Virtual Performance at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. Hilarious stuff.

raa2001 8/5/2011 1:30:15 AM

I may check this out tomorrow

kennynine 8/5/2011 2:17:37 AM

Just saw the midnight showing. It was amazing. The pacing was perfect, FX very believable, it had heart, and some great action sequences. My favorite summer movie by far.

spiderhero 8/5/2011 3:40:36 AM

With a review this positive, why only a B ?

I'm looking forward to this. If I can just find the time. Maybe next week or the week after.

Galmorzu 8/5/2011 5:10:41 AM

The work Serkis put into Kong was incredible. I expected no less of an amazing performance in this. That's the main reason I'm checking it out.

Hobbs 8/5/2011 5:33:35 AM

As we talked about in another thread someones work of art is another persons piece of sheet. Well, that being said this was a fantastic movie. The wife took the kids to her parents for 4 days leaving me all alone...so I said screw it and went to the midnight showing and wow, what a great movie. If you are a fan of the planet of the apes i don't know how you can't like this movie. If this is the last big summer movie then summer is going out with a bang. This actually might be the best movie I've seen this summer but I won't make that call until it has a chance to sink in and I get some sleep.

It was worth seeing it at midnight though I'm going to be paying for it in a few hours at work. lol

TremorDeth 8/5/2011 5:33:54 AM

Well B ... I think the stereotypes that he talks about and the couple of shallow characters are what brings it down under an A for him. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm thinking it may be an A in my book. Can't wait, too bad I have to work my second job tonight instead of watching the Rise.

axia777 8/5/2011 7:42:56 AM

The trailer looked great so I will post my thoughts when I go see the movie with my daughter. She liked to look of it too. I am glad everyone else thought it was great.