Possibly the clumsiest titled films of 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has been touted as being one of the better movies of the year. It’s been constantly recommended to me and has been reviewed fairly well, better than some of my favourite films of the year. So I went into this slightly sceptical, not sure if it would be good from the trailers, but still expecting it to be better than I thought it would be.
It seems that the movie going public and the professional critics have let me down. This film is not, as someone told me, “one of the best films of the year” and in no way stands up to this year’s great films such as X-Men: First Class, Cowboys & Aliens, or Source Code.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes does not actually have a rise in it. The film instead features what can be more closely described as a rebellion or an escape, though that would be far too closely titled to Escape from the Planet of the Apes. The apes in this film are held captive in a sanctuary where Draco Malfoy abuses them to a comical extent, being a hammy and hilariously unlikeable as possible. Obviously, the apes are not pleased with this, so they escape.
The reason they are able to do this is that Caesar (Andy Serkis), who is sent there, is a super intelligent ape as he is the child of an ape who was given an experimental virus that increases a chimpanzee’s intelligence to a human level. Caesar is able to lead them and organise them so that they can escape.
Caesar is actually a very likeable character. You feel for him when he is sad, angry or happy. Sadly, it is quite hard to connect with him as he, and every other ape in this film, is CGI. Noticeable CGI, to be precise. None of the apes have any weight in this world, even if they were brought about through motion capture, so they don’t feel like they are really there or are really interacting with anyone or anything. This does nothing but bug the hell out of me, making me cringe when the CGI is extremely noticeable. However, the details of the apes are really good. Looking at a single eye or a hand is very lifelike, but doesn’t make up for how fake the apes look as a whole.
The film is also very well acted. James Franco does his very best, like in most of the films he is in. John Lithgow plays his character, who has Alzheimer’s, extremely well and Brian Cox does his best Rip Torn for the audience.
Sadly, some of these roles are let down by other actors, such as Malfoy, who is so transparently evil he’s laughable. His accent seems to go from British to American to Irish and he chews scenery like there’s no tomorrow. David Oyelowo also plays a transparently evil character, the head of a pharmaceutical company who wants nothing but to make money, screw the consequences of his actions and all that rubbish! Freida Pinto as Franco’s love interest seems pointless and her acting is very average.
But the major failing of this film is the story. The plot in and of itself should be good, but the way it is handled is horrendous. Few actions seem to have consequences, such as Franco’s character stealing some of the wonder-virus and a baby chimpanzee from his company. Instead of legal issues and being fired he continues his job for the next 8 years and is given the go ahead to continue his research on the virus. No repercussions whatsoever.
The beginning of this film feels rushed but the scenes at the sanctuary go one for far longer than necessary. Some of the changes Caesar makes throughout the years seem to be swept aside, the film not seeming to care for his development at all. The ending of the film seems extremely anti-climactic, with the apes reaching their destination then showing the end credits. Just 5 seconds into the end credits we still have more movie to go, as a few minutes of the film plays showing what will lead to the downfall of the human race.
The film even got unintentionally funny at times. What is supposed to be one of the most dramatic parts of the film is ruined due to the events leading up to it. The silence that followed after that moment was filled with laughter from the audience. Some of the actions of the apes when attacking San Francisco seemed stupid and other dramatic scenes seemed funny due to the length of the shot or merely the visuals on screen.
But the most confusing thing within this film was the apes. For some reason it is told to us that the apes are not intelligent, yet their actions seem far more intelligent than that of normal apes. Yet when they are made smarter they devolve into mob mentality. Furthermore, when some apes are freed from the zoo they act the same as these “smarter” apes, which is confusing. These apes pick up parts of fences and use them as spears, yet the events of the film prior to this do not seem to justify them doing this.
This film had potential, and it is sad that it turned out this way. The CGI was distracting, some of the acting was bad and the plot was contradictory and full of holes. However, you can pick up on the ideas that the film tried to convey and you do get invested in the plot. You care for (some of) the apes and (sometimes) root for them when they are escaping. Sadly, this does not save the film. However, the unintentional hilarity of some of the film does save face a little bit.
To be fair to this film it isn’t exactly bad but there is a lot wrong with it. No way would I call it a good film nor would a rank it as one of the best films of the year. Some do say this is a good film and I don’t disagree with them, I just personally found it to be just below average.
Final Verdict: 4/10
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