I have been looking forward to seeing this film for quite some time. Ever since seeing an advert for it at the cinema probably over a year ago. I kept looking out for it on Sky Box Office but it wasn't there so when we decided to have a movie day on Sunday and took a trip to Blockbusters, I knew we were definitely going to be hiring it! Although I have seen the Planet of the Apes that Mark Walhberg was in 2001, I wasn't sure if it was going to follow on from this film in some way or be a standalone film. Although I enjoyed the 2001 Planet of the Apes, I was quite happy when I realised it wasn't a follow on, as I thought the film needed to be slightly darker, which Rise of the Apes most definitely was. Although it is essentially about a set of Apes that try take over San Francisco it did feel quite serious in comparison to Planet of the Apes which just seemed so far-fetched and comedic in a way, Rise of the Apes was obviously far-fetched but had a plausible reason which was explained in the beginning. This made the film believable.



Rise of the Apes opens in a pharmaceutical company called Gen Sys, where trials are under way to find a cure for brain disorders such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's and so far the trials on a female ape called Bright Eyes shows that the drug has amazing effects as she shows fantastic progress after achieving perfect scores on puzzles and appears calmer. The research programme follows the typical ideas of the lab driven by profits, with animals locked in cages, however the role of the main scientist Will Rodman (James Franco), seems to be sympathetic to the animals but we are unsure if this is because he genuinely cares or if he is driven by the need to find a cure as his father Charles (John Lithgow) suffers from Alzheimer's. Will tries to convince the Board to advance to human trials, unfortunately as Will addresses the Board, Bright Eyes suddenly starts acting aggressively and escapes from her holding cage. It all goes wrong for Will at this stage and it becomes apparent that the Board will not be approving the human trials. It is here that Will discovers a baby ape and one of his colleagues tries to convince him to take the ape home before something happens to it. It doesn't take much persuasion and this is where the story begins. Will names the ape Caesar and he soon becomes a part of the family. It is this relationship that the film follows as we see how Caesar copes and progresses living among humans.



The digital FX technology in this film is fantastic and is 100% the reason the film is so convincing. My comparison to the 2001 film is purely down to the technology I think, and doesn't have the need for actors to dress up in monkey suits like Helena Bonham Carter in Tim Burton's 2001 remake. The only indication we are given of the previous film is seeing a rocket jet off into space on the news (the general theme of the first film). The role of Caesar is played by Andy Serkis through motion capture technology and he also played the gorilla in the 2005 King Kong and Gollum in Lord of the Rings. Caesar is convincing despite being a combination of both ape and human, it does work in a dramatic way.



Had the film been rated higher than its current 12, perhaps a 15, I believe it could have gone further and expanded on the brutality of the apes. As it is, the apes tend to shy away from any kind of violence other than the loud kind and it perhaps could have taken a darker side as a 15 rating.



All in all and excellent film and one I would be happy to watch again.



Runtime: 105 minutes.



Release Date: 11 August 2011.



Random Fact: Dodge Landon speaks two of Charlton Heston'smost famous lines from the original: "It's a madhouse! A madhouse!" and "Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!".



Reviews:



"Hands down the best blockbuster of the year [2011]" ****--Daily Star Sunday
"A must see movie... ape-solutely brilliant" ****--The Sun
"9/10, a must-see sci-fi action blockbuster"--Daily Star


Blu-Ray Extras:


Commentary by Director Rupert Wyatt and writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver

Ape Facts - Chimpanzee/Gorilla/Orangutan

Pre-vis for The Future

Character Concept Art Gallery.