Lesson 2: Don't piss off a chimp.
When the full trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released, I was none but pleased to see the ever-attractive James Franco and ever-gorgeous Freida Pinto sharing the screen in the much anticipated prequel. Later I learned that Andy Serkis decided to bust out the green suit again to play another CGI character.
I will be honest, I have never seen the original. Nor have I seen the 2001 remake by Tim Burton. The only movie with chimps would have been Tarzan... the Disney version. So when I saw the trailer, I couldn't help but gawk at the advancement of film-making technology. It is armed with CGI work that rivals Avatar... the apes look incredibly lifelike!
The film surrounds a genetic engineer named Will Rodman. His research is primarily on finding something that will hopefully cure Alzheimer's -- a disease his own father has. Will tests out a drug on a chimp named Bright Eyes and sees that her intelligence is growing -- a telltale sign that his drug should help Alzheimer's sufferers. When Bright Eyes goes bananas, her life comes to an untimely end and her newborn baby is left without a parent. Will shows compassion towards the chimp and brings him home where he is given the name Caesar.
As the chimp becomes part of the family, the intelligence Bright Eyes possessed is passed onto Caesar and as each day grows, his IQ increases.
One day, Alzheimer's troubles the family when Will's father gets into a neighbor's car and causes a ruckus. As Will's father is being verbally abused by the angered neighbor, Caesar watches in his room window. Protective of his family, Caesar rushes outside to protect Mr. Rodman. This results in Caesar being violent towards the neighbor, and ultimately is pulled away by animal control to a compound where other chimps live.
Thus begins the downfall of Caesar's trust in humans, and the rise of the apes.
If you have seen the trailer, you obviously know what happens. The chimps are outraged by the way they are being treated by humans so they break out of the compound. What else is next but a showdown with the humans. They literally go ape shit on San Fransisco.
For most of the movie, I found myself growing fond of Caesar. He is so lovable, but so misunderstood. About half the movie is seeing Caesar growing up. I did not find it slow at all. It was all rise, but it was gradual and I liked that. It wasn't too slow paced.
What I didn't enjoy is that Tom Felton's character seems so Draco-like. Having watched him play Malfoy for the past 10 years, I couldn't help but see him as his Potter persona. Although I really like him, I wish he didn't always have to play the bad guy...
While Andy Serkis was blowing me away with his best ape impression, James Franco didn't act as well as he did in 127 Hours. However, the focus of the movie is not on him. His looks and beautiful co-star made up for his lack-luster performance. Again, the focus of the movie is not on humans so I don't have much to say about Freida Pinto. She's just really nice to look at... She didn't have much to say so I can't criticize too much.
I have to admit that the film was great and well received. Achieving over 80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes is quite the accomplishment for the remake. It ends leaving the audience itching for more. Luckily, there will be more Apes swinging our way in the future.
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