The Rise of the Planet of the Apes: The Apes are Back!

Tags: Movie Review, The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, James Franco, Apes, Simians

Finally, I got to see it, one of the movies that people have been talking about this past few days. I’ve heard that it’s been receiving good reviews, so I went out on a lazy Saturday afternoon and watched it at Lido Cinema (one of the bigger ones in Singapore – for me, the best I’ve been in so far here).

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is actually the 7th ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie – the last one having Mark Wahlberg as the ‘lost’ astronaut. This time though,  there are no astronauts or spaceships (in the main storyline, that is) as this movie is the prequel to the time when Apes rule the Earth.

The movie stars James Franco as a scientist (Will Rodman) trying to create a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. He develops a form of virus that is ‘supposed’ to heal the cells in the brain which would eventually improve the condition of those having the disease. They test this strain unto simians (primates) and having successful results. While during a presentation of this success, and with typical Holywood-style of events, an accident happens crashing Will’s experiment back to the drawing board.

All is not lost though, as he was given another chance to pursue his research with a child chimpanzee who was born in their laboratories without them being aware of. He had another chance to find a cure, one that could help his father, all in an innocent looking, albeit hairy creature. His father named the chimp ‘Caesar’ when Will brought him home. He took care of him and discovers that Caesar had heightened intelligence and ability to learn, a proof that the effects of the strain has been passed down to him.

Everything was all fun and sweet until an incident when Caesar assaulted a neighbor (oh, but he’s more than just an annoying neighbor) in defense for Will’s father. He was forced to send Caesar to a ‘primate’ shelter facility and there we see how Caesar evolved from his simian roots to an intelligent, human-equal, drawing with him many other primates.

I found that the first part of the movie just a tad bit sentimental and the base of the story (you know, genetic experiment to save human lives gone crazy) a bit cliché by now. Apart from that, the rest of the movie was really good.

Don’t be confused though, as this isn’t actually a prequel to the other movies. It is actually a reboot! A good one at that, if I must say. But if you must, I think it would be close to being a prequel to the first ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie – which surprisingly was from 1968. It just proves how much a classic that movie is if it is still well known today (I just loved that movie). Another thing to note, the fourth movie (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes) had a similar premise, even the lead Ape is also named as ‘Caesar’).

Here’s pic (to remind you guys of the original 1968 film, by the way:

 

Bottom line, I would really recommend watching this movie.

And here are some other tidbits about the movie you might want to watch out for:
1. Don’t dismiss the annoying neighbor, you’ll see in the end how important his role is in the actual ‘rise’ of the planet of the apes. And, it leverages on the current real issues we are facing these days (think: airports).
2. If you’re a bit more irritated than you should be with one of the characters in the primate shelter facilities. Don’t be surprised, he is actually Draco Malfoy. hehe
3. In connection to the main arc, there is mention of the first manned mission to the planet Mars. That should complete the links to the premise of a man landing in a planet where men has devolve to be replaced by apes.
4. The name of the facilities (and Will’s boss) is ‘Jacobs’ which is also the name of the producer of the first original films.
5. There’s this part of the movie, in a scene at the shelter facilities, when Caesar did such a ‘simple’ thing, yet everybody gasped at the cinema. I really loved that scene!
6. Here’s the wikipedia link for the original movie and all the others: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes 

 

Thinking out loud: in this storyline, the apes wouldn’t actually be ‘forcefully’ taking over the planet – it is, as is most of the cases are, still our fault. The rise of the planet of the apes is also the ‘fall of the planet of humans’ due to his own actions/experiments. Well, I guess to be overtaken by apes is A LOT better than flesh-eating zombies (unless, you’ve got pea-shooters). hehe