8/4/2019 Planet of the Apes Critique

1/1

The Apes rise above all expectations

Summer of 2011 is even made even better thanks to this year's reboot ofThe Planet of the Apes

franchise,Rise of the Planet of the Apes by newcomer director Rupert Wyatt (TheEscapist). The filmgives an emotional character study of an intelligent ape, Caesar, performed by Andy Serkis (Lord of the

Rings andKing Kong), as he rises to power and plots to dominate over mankind.

The movie begins with scientist Will Rodman, played by James Franco (127 Hours), who finds

baby Caesar in a cage at the lab that Will works that experiments on apes. Over the next 30 minutes,

we, the audience, get to see Caesar grow up and his relationship with Will grow as well. Caesarsteachings of humans being caring and respectful towards all Earth's creatures is disrupted when events

that Caesar goes through changes his thoughts on the true nature of human beings.

This film is a remake ofConquest of the Planet of the Apes the fourth installment in the originalfranchise. What makes this interpretation better than the original is the stronger emotional side to

Caesar that sticks with the audience and ends up having them root for him during the rise of the apes.

The emotional power behind this film is Andy Serkis and his impressive motion capture skills. Serkiswears a diving-esque suit with little reflecting balls all over and neon dots placed every inch of his face.

During his performance, special cameras are all around him in his acting captures his movement via the

reflecting suit balls and neon face dots. His facial expressions and body movement really help suck theaudience into the mind of this unique chimp.

The digital effects for these apes are the best examples in recent years. Weta Digital, the peoplewho created the effects forGollum, King Kong, and the natives of Pandora inAvatar, created a

masterful job in creating realistic apes of varieties like chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. The up-

close shots are what convince you. Every little wrinkle, scar, strand of hair, and inch of skin texture

totally bring these apes to life.

The films constant throw-in lines and references from the original series were frequent enough

to the point of annoyance for those who are familiar with the originalPlanet Of The Apes. The hard-core fans knowledge about the originals will surely recognize Charlton Heston on a television screen

and his infamous line being said, Get your stinkin paws off me, you damn dirty ape. Tom Felton

(Harry Potterfranchise) and David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland) play the film's main villains.Oyelowo who is pretty much the clichd money-grabbing jerk and Felton plays Dodge, a punk kid who

likes to mess with Caesar a lot. These characters aren't new in the world of antagonists, but they do a

good job in being the motivation to the apes' cause.

This movie delivers everything you'd want from a well crafted sci-fi movie that has a great

dramatic story for the humans and apes, awesome action during films climax, the digital effects is top-

notch and flawless, and the acting from Franco and the rest of the cast is quite good. I'm still shaken byAndy Serkis' performances, so theres hope that the Academy of Motion Picture and Science might

consider his performance for Best Actor for this years Oscars or even create a new category for voice

and motion capture performances. The apes will conquer a four out of four popcorn bags rating. This is,so far, the best movie of 2011.