La planète des singes : Les origines

There are so many things right about this movie, the little things that are wrong are easily forgiven. Some slight plot holes, but the film and characters make up for it. The chemistry between Franco and Pinto is weak, however Franco plays his part. Lithgow is always a great asset to any production, and does a great job here.

Albeit you know the chimps are CGI, their eyes look amazing, with depth and personality, and along with their body language and facial animations, you really do forget they are CGI. The music is powerful and tense, and I loved the way it builds up through out the movie. Starting with light orchestra at the beginning, while starting to feel very tribal without overdoing it towards the end.

There are moments that are truly gratifying, and Caeser really steals the show with his evolution through out the movie. The journey Caeser takes really connects and you feel his plight. With moments of thought, heart and action, Rise really hits the mark for the audience it's aiming for.

Excellent entertainment all round!

To begin on a tangent before evaluating the film, before summer 2011, I had not seen a decent prequel film. Prequels to films are often made when there is either a rich back story behind the originals or the producers are wanting a little more money from a particular franchise (see the Star Wars prequels). The problem they present is that film- makers have to construct their work, with the knowledge that the audience knows how it ends. One of the greatest things about seeing a film for the first time is the surprise and anticipation, to removing that can detract a lot from the overall impact of the film. But this summer I have had the pleasure of seeing X-men First Class, and now Rise of the Planet of the Apes - two excellent prequels to series that I didn't care for previously.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (RPA from now on, I can't bear typing it) is not only a triumph in CG animation, but as a stellar science fiction film, that remembers that films are infinitely more engaging when the audience actually cares for the characters on screen. Too often do I see films with a high premise that forget to flesh out their characters, leaving us to run around in mindless, weightless explosions with nobodies who we know less than 3 things about (cough, Transformers 3). Yes, RPA is about super intelligent apes that ransack cities and take on armed forces with little more than what surrounds them, but before we get to that there is an enormous amount of development from the main protagonist; Caesar. Although the advertisement trumpets James Franco, John Lithgow etc, the real star here is Andy Serkis, along with millions of dollars worth of CG animation to create the most expressive animated creatures on film. Even with Avatar, using real humans, pales in comparison to the amount of detail going into every single one of these apes; there is not one second in the film where you cannot understand one of the primates intentions - you could practically vocalise them yourself with the refined eye movement, body language that clearly separates Caesar from his more primitive relatives. Needless to say, Caesar's performance is flawless; after all this is the man who brought Gollum to life, but he captures the screen with an entirely wordless performance, which to me is the greatest part of the film. I felt for Caesar more than any other character in this film, and he did it without saying a word. Eat that Michael Bay. I was almost in tears at one point during one of Caesar's more emotional scenes for Christ Sake - although a chimp, the heightened intelligence really gives him just enough human characteristic to be above the uncanny valley while still behaving like an animal.

The humans in the film were what I considered weakest in this film; not any of the performances were bad, but a little more development in some minor characters and some tweak in the writing here and there would have made this a perfect 10. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) felt a bit off to me; he was cruel but almost in a cartoon way, though I suspect that's more to do with ill writing than any personal issues. The main cast are good, though at it's current length, I think more development with James Franco's character wouldn't have gone amiss, but then again, this might have thrown off the pacing.

Another thing I love about this film is that while taking a sharp diversion from its roots in terms of gradual characterisation, it does a superb job of delivering what everyone inevitably came for. A massive Chimpocalypse. A simian uprising that sees the downtrodden apes taking up arms against humanity, and in three words: it's f - ing cool. Made all the more exciting by the anticipation and the feel for these characters, the marvellous point about Caesar's character is that we sympathise with him, we understand why he leads an ape army AND WE SUPPORT HIM. A super intelligent ape is rallying a chimp attack force to free themselves from their confines, cause mayhem, disrupt order and ultimately rule humanity AND WE WANT THEM TO. And for that I applaud.

I love a film that makes us look inwards at ourselves and question our own moral codes and attitudes to events in life (this one clearly representing a case of animal cruelty) that make us conclude that WE are indeed the bad guys, and we need to change. Living in a small, rural middle-class society (like myself) or a well-developed area often makes mainstream audiences forget about those less fortunate than themselves, and what it drives them to, or in this case, what having too much drives us to, and it's refreshing to see something that reminds us of how much of a plague we are to the rest of the planet.

Overall, I would say a strong 9/10, perhaps not quite reaching the highs that First Class did, but by God, was it more consistent - definitely watch this one, and stay after the credits.

I had extremely low expectations for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). I loved the original 1968 classic, but every sequel/remake after it sucked. I was surprised they were going to make a prequel of the classic and I thought it was a good idea. But still after so many bad sequels and remakes, I still had my big doubts. Also I didn't like how the monkeys were made by CGI/Special Effects, why not use a robotic monkey or a real one, it would look more real.

After my viewing of the film, I was pleasantly surprised and I liked it overall. But there were definitely flaws in the movie, no doubt about it. The characters were a bit uninteresting at times, there were subplots that went pretty much nowhere and indicated that there could sequels in the works, but it all depends on how much money it makes. The movie, at some points turned to an average summer blockbuster with all the action scenes and explosions, but it redeems itself later on.

However there are plenty of positive qualities, the movie has. Andy Serkis delivers a great performance as the lead ape in the film and is pretty much the star of the film. James Franco and Freida Pinto, both did a good job portraying their characters. The movie also poses ethical/moral questions, which I found very interesting. The movie is easily on of the most thrilling films we've had this summer. Finally a movie that pays respect to the 1968 original science fiction classic!

This is a much smarter way to reboot a moribund series, taking the aesthetics into a new century while also updating the narrative to match with new technology. It also trusts the audience to empathize with a non-human character using that new technology, and then it includes the anchor of the human story which is simply not as strong.

Instead of trying to recreate any of the previous movies up to this point, Rupert Wyatt pushed the newest entry in the franchise in the Batman Begins direction of giving a grounded, modern take on a fantastical subject. Some chimpanzees are kidnapped from a jungle in Africa and sold to a company doing research into an Alzheimer's cure. A female goes on a rampage after she's infused, but it wasn't due to the cure but because she was protecting her baby she had delivered in secret in the lab. The chief scientist, Will, takes the baby home, discovers it has increased mental powers, and keeps the baby he and his sick father name Caesar.

This opening is largely dominated by the human side of the story, and it suffers a bit for it. Will is played by James Franco who's more of a performance artist than an actor and doesn't really deliver much terribly convincingly. The antagonist is a money-grubbing corporate type with a British accent, Jacobs, and he's flat and uninteresting. The scientific stuff is not terribly convincing, feeling like Hollywood dealing in stuff it doesn't really understand. What saves this part is really John Lithgow as Will's father, Charles. He's a quality actor playing the disheveled and confused old man really well and with a depth of humanity that is missing from the rest of the performers.

However, it's at about this point that Caesar begins to take center stage. Caesar the character and performance by Andy Serkis is the single greatest part of this movie, and he's great, one of the single greatest things about the franchise up to this point. Caesar grows from an innocent baby monkey into a cynical and hardened leader who uses what tools he has to stand apart from humanity and push ape-kind into a new direction. The digital performance, captured from Serkis' own motion captured performance, is subtle and touching.

Caesar ends up defending Charles from their butthead neighbor (another flaw in the movie since he's so thinly drawn and cartoonish, but the part is small, so there wasn't a whole lot else to do) and gets ordered by the court to remain in an ape sanctuary just outside the city of San Francisco. It's there that Caesar first encounters other apes, sees their limitations in contrast to his own heightened intelligence, and how, despite how nice Will and his girlfriend Caroline were to him, Caesar is still a step lower than humans in this world. It's a situation he can't stomach after a while exposed to the unvarnished truth. This is where he hardens, searching for a new truth, and it's all done wordlessly, anchored entirely by facial performances. It's great.

Caesar's solution is to expose the rest of the apes along with him in captivity to the compound that Will had been working on, breaking out and stealing it from Will's own refrigerator since he had been doing so much work on it, giving it to his father, outside of work (thin, but okay). With his newfound alpha status and a few dozen suddenly intelligent apes (the scene where they wake up and understand what's going on around them significantly more is a great quiet moment), Caesar decides that they won't live in captivity. Instead, they will escape to the Redwood forests on the other side of the San Francisco Bay.

It's pretty much at this point that the human side of the story finally and completely becomes mere support to the main story of Caesar's journey, and the movie improves greatly. Caesar works to get his people free, the movie embraces some action conventions with the apes freeing the apes at a zoo and the remaining apes at the genetics lab before grabbing spears and fighting off the police and Jacobs over the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a satisfying use of action elements because of the clear emotional anchor that is Caesar.

Now, a moment about callbacks. In my review of Tim Burton's re-imagining of Planet of the Apes, I complained about the callbacks, saying that they were poorly placed and ill-used, arguing that they could never rise out of guffaw territory. Well, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has several callbacks, perhaps more than Burton's movie, but they work significantly better. Let's take one for example. Tom Felton's character, Dodge, is facing down Caesar at the beginning of his revolt, and Caesar grabs Dodge. "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape," Dodge cries out, giving the audience that moment of recognition to something it knows, but then the movie immediately undercuts that with a big emotional moment, Caesar saying his first word, "No." The sudden "No!" undercuts the guffaw moment and brings the audience immediately back to the emotional reality of what's going on, focusing us on what Caesar is doing. So, the movie gets its callback to a famous line from the original film, fits it into the situation rather organically, but then moves on very quickly to keep the focus where it needs to be, Caesar. It's a very good way to make callbacks work in dramatic situations, essentially making sure that they aren't the focus.

Anyway, if the focus were more on Caesar, the film would be great, but because we spend so much time with the uninteresting and rather bland humans through the first half, it's not as good as it could be. It's not that the human stuff is bad, it's just that it's not terribly interesting especially in comparison to what Caesar goes through. Still, it's a solid way to reboot a moribund franchise in a new time.

To sum it up, a very powerful film falling just short of being a masterpiece. However, the only flaw in the film is that the film could have been just a bit longer! I am really hoping for a director's cut because there should have been a few more character development scenes between father and son, boyfriend and girlfriend, and even Ape and Human. I felt the movie was paced a bit too quickly but nevertheless, still contains very fleshed out characters driven by excellent performances throughout, from Lithgow, to Franco, to Cox and especially by Andy Serkis.

Cesar is by far the best animated character in the history of cinema. His facial expressions tell it all! You feel his rage, his fear, and his child like innocence through his wonderfully animated eyes. Not only is the C.G.I. good, but the character is written very well in general. You will go through all of those emotions yourself as you witness his journey. All I can say is that I now know why I try to walk my dog without a leash as much as possible. This movie just confirmed it for me! Through the film, you will understand what Cesar is feeling and why. The invisible character of the film is humanity itself, and at times, feels like a study of human nature.

Plot wise, it is very well told. I thought there was nothing cheesy about the script, although not as intelligent as the original, but not dumb either. There is some science fiction in the film, and other than the experimental drug, there was some other surprising Science fiction plot elements in it too which might lead into the sequel; if there is one of course, and I think there will be.

For the skeptics who think the film would be cheesy seeing all the apes battle armed policemen then think again. I too, was a bit skeptical at first, wondering how the apes would defeat an entire police force, but when you watch the film your doubts would dissipate. Just remember the physical ability of apes and how powerful the apes are, and how much more powerful they would be if they had brains! The action was very good, but as good as it was, I'd trade it in for more plot development. There were a bit too many plot jumps in the last 30 minutes, but all in all, it was directed very, very well. Coupled with a good score, mellow at times, but highly dramatic which heightens the tension. Speaking of tension, there is a lot of it in this film. If you're an animal lover like I am, then be warned; You will be in tears 30 seconds into the opening scene.

I also wanted to mention the original film even though it's tough to compare the two. This is an origins story that actually makes the original better. The original was more about the plot than the characters and they each stand apart and alone with their own merits and flaws. It was nice to see a few homages to the old classic, and don't be surprised if you see a character from the original as well. I highly doubt this film will disappoint the fans of the original and TV series! It will have you climbing trees!