Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Hail Caesar, the 3D CGI simian star who rises up above the 2D human supporting cast of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

They use a lot of CGI in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Take note of this, be impressed by it, and then forget about all the clever computer wizardry.

This clever stuff, created by Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson’s company Weta Digital and bought to life by the world’s leading motion capture actor Andy Serkis, is stunning and is the single most important factor in the success of the film.

But what makes the visual effects in the film work is that at no point do you feel like you’re watching CGI. At no point do the Weta boffins show off.

Serkis plays Caesar, the ape who leads the rebellion against humankind. It’s essential that you connect with the young super-intelligent chimp, and you will.

Beyond his immediate adopted human family, Caesar is treated like dirt by just about every human he interacts with. He learns what a horrible bunch us humans are and we watch him as he grows older and wiser – wise enough to lead the ape rebellion.

At the start of the film, baby Caesar’s mother is killed in the lab after she goes on going on the rampage inside the facility where she’s been undergoing drug tests to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

These tests on Caesar’s mother, known as Bright Eyes (the same name as the human test subject, Taylor, played by Charlton Heston, in the original 1968 Planet Of The Apes film) gave her heightened intelligence.

Baby Caesar is smuggled out of the facility and raised at home by the doctor in charge of the testing, Dr Will Rodham (James Franco), when orders are given to kill all the chimps involved in the testing. It soon becomes apparent that her son has inherited his mother's brains.

This move by the well-intentioned scientist sets in motion the events that will ultimately lead to humans becoming a slave race (not in this film, but in future films of what’s bound to become a major franchise).

Everyone watching the film knows that the apes will end up getting the upper hand. Caesar goes from eager kid to stroppy teen to pensive strong-minded adult capable of raising an army. What entertains is seeing just how this happens.

James Franco and Frieda Pinto play the painfully attractive and two-dimensional couple at the centre of the centre events. Along with John Lithgow, who does a decent turn as Dr Rodham’s Alzheimer’s-suffering father, and one of the lab workers, they are the only ‘good’ humans to appear in the film.

Whoop-ass

All the other human characters we encounter deserve all the ape-sized whoop-ass that’s coming their way.

As is traditional in Hollywood, most of the baddies are played by British actors. Brian Cox runs a sinister centre for all the naughty apes who’ve been taken into custody in San Francisco (who knew such things existed) and is aided by his sadistic ape-hating son (played by Harry Potter’s Tom Felton). Back at the drug testing lab, the owner (David Oyelowo) cares nothing about the work going on in his facility – for him it’s all about the money.

They’re pantomime caricatures, but that’s OK. In fact it helps ensure that the focus isn’t taken away from Caesar.

It makes sense that most of the humans are brutal and unrefined, whereas the apes show nuance, subtlety and emotional intelligence as throughout the film the apes are the ones we’re meant to side with.

You’ll need to suspend disbelief on several occasions. The drugs industry won’t be happy with the portrayal of an absurdly slack drug testing procedure and San Francisco comes across as a city that has hundreds of apes secretly locked up.

The original Planet of the Apes film was based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes and was exceptionally well-scripted. While the script of this latest ‘Apes’ film lacks the grace of the 1968 classic is littered with holes and has its fair share of corniness, it does what it needs to – successfully explaining why the apes rise up and how.

Film buffs will appreciate the many nods that are made to the original film, such as use of specific names, to use of particular species and even homage to classic lines, with Tom Fenton uttering a variant of Charlton Heston’s classic line “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

Don’t overanalyse the film and be willing to make leaps of faith larger than the giant leap that is made by a gorilla up into a flying helicopter at one point in the film (really).

Just sit back, enjoy your popcorn, and should you ever encounter an ape, remember to be nice to them. Just in case.

Nick Bradshaw