Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes really took me by surprise. I had no interest in seeing this movie. My preconceived notions had already chalked it up as another pointless summer movie, an attempt to revitalize a dead franchise that was probably dead for good reason. The first trailer didn't do it for me.

But a couple weeks ago, before Captain America, I believe, we saw a trailer that, well, I wouldn't say turned me around, but it definitely intrigued me. Then we saw a TV advertisement for it, and on a whim, I said to my wife (who really didn't want to see it), "Hey, if this gets over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, let's go see it." Not thinking she had anything to worry about, she agreed. And lo and behold, the Tomatometer hath spoken.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was not only a fun summer thrillride, but also a well crafted, pretty good movie. A lot of care went into the character of the main ape, Caesar. He's well rendered, about as good as CGI at this point can handle, and Andy Serkis' performance inside of the CG is, well, downright brilliant.

The plot is as such: an ape that is being tested on with a potential Alzheimer's cure goes on a rampage at the facility and has to be put down. This ape had a baby, who was born with the treatment already integrated into its biology. Unable to euthanize the baby, Dr. James Franco sneaks it home and raises it as his own. This ape, Caesar, is super intelligent, but still an animal, and complications arise that lead him to eventually lead all the apes in San Francisco (surprisingly many) in a revolt against the humans who mistreated them.

Now, the movie is entertaining, but it isn't perfect. Some of the human characters leave something to be desired. James Franco, while a generally likeable guy, is kind of the dumbest, most irresponsible scientist ever. Not only does he steal his ape, he sneaks untested Alzheimer's treatments home to his dad (the always-good John Lithgow), and breaks several other basic rules and protocols that he should govern himself by. It's hard to sympathize with someone who displays more stupidity than the ape he's raising as his son.

The rest of the characters are there for one of two reasons: to be nice to apes, so we can like the humans, or to be mean to apes, so we can cheer when they get their comeuppance.

One of the little joys of Apes was the little nods to the original movie. They range from blink-and-you-miss-it clever to punch-you-in-the-face obvious, but they always coaxed a smile from me. Yes, the line you would expect is in there, and it's a hard line to sell. What made it work for me wasn't the line itself, which I think only Heston could make work, but the line that followed it, which was one of the most important in the movie.

The climactic apes vs. humans battle was kind of awesome. Seeing the apes use strategy and take orders from Caesar to outsmart the humans (not really a spoiler, it's in the title) was a blast. Don't expect the nuclear wasteland and the statue of liberty in the desert at the end, though. This just plants the seeds for ape domination, presumably because they want sequels. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Caesar Takes Manhattan, anyone?

So, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is worth a watch. Andy Serkis carries the movie, with yet another amazing performance where he isn't even seen on camera. The story is well executed and entertaining. Plus, it reminded me that you can't always judge a book by its cover, which is a pretty easy lesson to forget.