Surprisingly enough, Tim Burton’s decade old Planet of the Apes reboot was a large box-office success. I say “surprisingly” because everyone seems to have forgotten its achievements. But that didn’t stop another restart from happening. This time, the film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is a prequel dealing with how the apes that inherit the Earth become so smart. James Franco stars as a human scientist attempting to develop a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. His drug ends up improving the intelligence of the ape he tests it on and even more so, the offspring of one of them.
One of the many successful aspects of Rise is the willingness to get away from the expected and iconic imagery of the past films. There is no Statue of Liberty scene and no instances of a human man kissing an ape woman. Only the inclusion of the famed “you damn dirty ape” line made the cut. From there the movie is much less an action blockbuster than intellectual thriller. After a few minutes of getting used to the concept, Franco is a believable enough scientist and his relationship with Caesar the ape, played by Andy Serkis, is quite tear-jerking at times.
Even though the audience knows from the other films that the long-term result of the events on screen is human extinction, the apes are the heroes and most sympathetic of the characters. They fight for freedom against oppressive and torturous conditions. Now put humans in this scenario and it would be considered an Oscar contender. But there are a few weaknesses in here too. Some awkward and stuffy dialogue pops up occasionally and the plot could develop a bit quicker. Though Rise is a complete success. If you were to put a real ape and Andy Serkis’ Caesar side by side, the untrained person probably couldn’t tell the difference. Now, if you put James Franco next to a real scientist, it would be a lot easier to tell who was the real one… (9.2 out of 10)
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