RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

It has almost been 50 years since the release of Planet Of The Apes, where Charlton Heston played an astronaut who landed on a planet ruled by apes and where humans were enslaved by them. 33 years later, Tim Burton remade it with Mark Walhberg as the astronaut, unfortunately, it wasn't well received. Now, a decade later, director Rupert Wyatt has reimagined the story and changed the setting to Earth, rather than a distant planet. However, is the quality of the film the same as the 1968 original or just as bad as the 2001 remake?

When the film opens, scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) is working on finding a cure for Alzheimer's and has created a drug known as ALZ 112. He has tested this drug on chimpanzees and their intelligence has improved significantly, causing Will to test it out on his father, Charles (John Lithgow), who has Alzheimer's. A chimp escapes and runs amok in the laboratory, leading it to be shot dead. Will then discovers it was a female and she left behind a baby who he takes home and names Caesar (Andy Serkis). As Caesar grows older, he becomes more and more intelligent. Unfortunately, after a misunderstanding between Charles and his neighbour, Caesar escapes the house and begins violently attacking the neighbour out of protection for Charles. This leads to Caesar being set away to live in a sanctuary for apes and this is where the titular rise begins. 

Because I've not seen either the 1968 original nor the 2001 remake, I had no idea what to expect when I watched Rise, fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. Writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have successfully created an action-packed story that never fails to engage the audience. The relationship between Caesar and Will is effective because we can see how close they've become over the years. When Caesar is sent away, we feel Will's pain. Franco is best known for his comedic roles alongside his friend, Seth Rogan, however, in Rise, he proves he can handle dramatic roles just as well as the comedic ones. 

I think that the writers made a good choice focusing on the apes, as in the original, it focused on an astronaut who discovered a planet lead by apes. In the 1968 film, we see the apes from the astronaut's point of view and he perceives them as evil. However, here, the perspective shifts and, while the apes do eventually lead a revolution, we don't think of them as evil. They're only fighting for what's right and fight back after being treated badly, both at the laboratory and the sanctuary. We know Caesar isn't bad, he just cares for his fellow apes and doesn't want to be treated like a pet or lab experiment anymore. We understand his actions because of what he and the other apes have been through.

Because special effects didn't exist in the time of filming the 1968 Planet Of The Apes, the apes were portrayed by humans, using make-up and costumes. This is why the impact on viewers nowadays will be less impressive as they look silly. Although he had access to computer-generated imagery, Burton followed the same route and used make-up and costumes to create his apes which proved to be the only improvement the film made on the original. Burton's partner at the time, Helena Bonham Carter looked unrecognisable as one of the apes. However, with Rise, apes were created with the actors wearing motion-capture costumes and creating the apes digitally using CGI. Because of this, Rise received a nomination for Best Achievement In Visual Effects. Because the performances of the apes are so realistic, I wouldn't blame people for thinking that they used real apes rather than actors. This is the same technique they used in films such as Lord Of The Rings and King Kong. The go-to actor for motion capture is Serkis who, like his performances as Gollum and Kong in the aforementioned films, puts 110% into his performance and makes Caesar feel like a real ape, rather than an obvious actor in make-up and costume.

After shooting the actors playing humans interacting with others wearing the motion capture suits, a clean plate was shot with actors for extra reference. Actor-stuntman Terry Notary guided the actors on realistic ape movement, while Weta Digital studied the chimps in the Wellington Zoo for reference. The digital apes also received detailed models with skeletons, muscles and nerve tissue layers for accurate animation. Cast models of apes' heads and limbs helped the texture department replicate skin details such as wrinkles and pores. Given the difference between human and chimpanzee facial muscles, the animators tweaked the performance through a new facial muscle system adding dynamics, ballistics, and secondary motion. As the silent performance required expressive eyes, a new eye model was made to depict both greater accuracy in muscle movement in and around the eyes, and also tears, pupil dilation, and light refraction. While Serkis was the primary performer for Caesar, as the effects team considered that at times "overcame the character" other motion capture team actors were also used, especially Devyn Dalton, whose height matched that of a chimpanzee. Along with that, they used Notary to play Caesar in stunt-filled scenes such as the Golden Gate Bridge scene. Overall, the visual effects is where Rise succeeds the most.

For those, like me, who haven't seen the original Planet Of The Apes, you may be surprised at where the narrative goes, especially towards its finale which takes place on the Golden Gate Bridge. This is a thrilling sequence as it's incredibly tense. Because of the ALZ 112 drug, which improves ape's intelligence, a disease is spreading which leads to the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which was released three years later.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes proved to be more successful than that of the 2001 remake, which didn't receive much positive reception from critics and fans of the original. At the box office, it made over $481 million and critics said it 'breathed new life into a long-running franchise'. This is because it was led by Rupert Wyatt's stylish direction, some impressive special effects, and a mesmerizing performance by Andy Serkis.

7/10