Rise of the Planet of the Apes

[Achim]

I had read mixed reviews about this one. The unfavorable ones, which I had found first, almost made me not see it, but after also finding a couple of good ones I went to see it today.

First off, I was mislead by the title, make me expect a different third act than what they gave me. Of course, what I expected was basically one BIG plot hole, which never came... So, while not really getting what I came for, at least the movie made a lot more sense. I really liked how they ended the film; of course it opens up strong potential to make this a franchise again.

The real stars of this film are of course the apes, or their digital animators (and motion capture doubles). The emotion that the apes bring across with their eyes, faces and body language is amazing. While I found them almost always recognizably digital, I was still in awe of the "acting". James Franco and Jon Voight do their best to breathe a little life into their characters, but they are always overshadowed by the apes

How Caesar comes into existence and his development from caged in prisoner to leader of his fellow primates is quite believable. At one pivotal moment the whole theater gasped in awe (when he finds quite a surprising way to express himself).

Between a [mr]3[/mr] and a [mr]4[/mr]

[MEJHarrison]

Besides Harry Potter, this would be my next big summer movie.  Thanks for the review! I think I'll have to go see it.

[lyonsden5]

going to see it this afternoon. 

[Najemikon]

I'm finding it really annoying that this film seems to be pretty good. Your comments are consistent with the reviews I've seen, but I'm in turmoil and have been since I first saw the trailer. 

While it looks like a great story with a fair bit of action, I can't get past the fundamental fact that they might ignoring the point and message of the original film...

[spoiler]which was about the self-destructive nature of man and how we are destined to destroy ourselves in a cycle of violence. I watched the Blu-Ray of the first film just last night and the motive is very strong, such as when the Professor tells Taylor about their sacred scrolls warning them not to allow man his freedom or he shall make war on his brother. Hence the ending and the famous line. Apes inherited what was left of the earth.[/spoiler]

Now at least a precedent has been set by the sequels to allow wriggle room and in the first film there is a Deus Ex Machina to consider: [spoiler]the ape who wrote the scrolls on which their culture is governed must have had some deeper understanding of mankind to recognise the threat, implying an intelligent ape occupied the same time as man. Then again there are more humans in the sequel, though I struggle to remember.[/spoiler]

A review of the new film that I read today supported my fear because he concluded that it neatly [spoiler]sets up the original plot, but disregards the idea we would destroy ourselves as a race by introducing destructive apes and therefore "lets mankind off the hook".[/spoiler] I spoiler-ed that because although it was a published review in a newspaper, I do think people who still haven't seen the original film would be surprised by its potency, even if they know what happens in the closing moments.

Even though I know the film very well, that underlying message is still powerful and rather dark. It would disappoint me if they've undermined it.

[KinkyCyborg]

I believe that the destructive ways of man that lead to it's near extinction coupled with the rise of the apes is illustrated in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (which I really enjoyed btw) just not in the method that most would expect. Two very significant events are initiated from one attempt to change the natural order of things. I don't want to elaborate any more than that for those who haven't watched the film yet but needless to say the ending (stay to watch the credits as well!) explains things nicely and shows how these 2 events eventually lead to the world portrayed in all the earlier incarnations of the Apes movies.

I was skeptical going into this film as well but I think they did enough for them to rightfully say they made it their own. As Achim mentioned the personalities of the various apes are great and in a lot of cases much more engaging than their human counterparts.   

[Najemikon]

Ok, thanks, Kevin. That's reassuring and I was hoping that this was the case in the background of the more balanced reviews that haven't mentioned the impact on the overall story.

Do you think then, that Rise could be one of those very rare cases where there has been a real effort to reboot a franchise with the focus on story as much as on business? I'd hoped so because of the work that clearly went into Serkis' performance.

[KinkyCyborg]

Do you think then, that Rise could be one of those very rare cases where there has been a real effort to reboot a franchise with the focus on story as much as on business? I'd hoped so because of the work that clearly went into Serkis' performance.

I think so because they have gone to great lengths to develop the character of Caesar (Serkis) and to some extent a few of the other apes... Maurice the Orangutan comes to mind. Given their own unique application of how it all began it's really wide open to possibilities going forward which is exciting but make no mistake... the eye candy of special effects surrounding the apes all but ensures it will make a good chunk of change. While they may beat their chest (pun intended) in pride of their successful creativeness I'm sure at no point were they adverse to the prospect of making a little money in this venture.  

[Najemikon]

  Nothing wrong with a bit of cash! The best blockbusters though still have integrity and it's good to know that haven't screwed the Apes completely, so to speak.

[Dragonfire]

I've seen the original movie..at least one of the sequels.  I don't remember a lot from them now.  I had no desire to see the newer one directed by Burton and I still haven't seen it.  I'm really not sure I want to see this one.  While some of the stuff in the trailer looks interesting, it also sort of seems like they shared too much.  How Ceaser gets intelligent enough to do what he does...how the other apes get smarter. 

[Achim]

I'm really not sure I want to see this one.  While some of the stuff in the trailer looks interesting, it also sort of seems like they shared too much.  How Ceaser gets intelligent enough to do what he does...how the other apes get smarter. 

Yes, the trailer gives you all that information, no surprises left. But it is not really about that, it is about how everyone deals with it, including the apes themselves and most of all Caesar's emotions that bring him to the point where he does what he does. Maybe you have similar reservations as I had, based on the "promise" of the title

This is not a remake of the original, like Burton's film. The story is heavily taken from part 4, The Conquest of the Planet of the Apes instead.

If you oly have a fleeting interest in the story and no attachment to the series at all, then maybe wait for this showing up on a TV channel near you...

[Dragonfire]

Unhuh....ok.
Still not sure.  My mom and step dad will probably be going to see it..I might go with them.  Haven't decided yet.  Even if I hate it, I'll still get a movie review out of it.   

[Dragonfire]

I've thought about this a little more and I think I've figured out what my biggest reservation is.  Beyond the fact that I thought it looked like most of the important bits were shared in the trailers I've seen.

I should mention that I can get...very emotional watching movies at times.  It seems like it hits me worse for some reason if animals are involved.  Peter Jackson's King Kong hit me really, really hard later in the movie...mostly because of the brilliant performance by Andy Serkis.  There were some beautiful and touching moments with Kong and..umm..rats..I forgot her name..the woman Naomi Watts played, and then all the idiots showed up and Kong ends up dead.  I was weeping in the theater.  I have only seen the movie once and I won't watch it again.  I just can't handle seeing that again.  Just thinking about it again now has me crying.  Yes I'm a wimp.  I saw the original Kong and while I didn't like how it ended, it didn't hit me that way.  I never expected how I reacted.  With Serkis playing Caesar, I have a feeling he may get to me that way again.  I'm not someone that likes getting that sad over a movie.  I'm not someone who wants to watch a sad movie every so often so I can cry.  I tend to avoid movies if I know certain things will happen.  After seeing the trailers to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I can tell some things are going to happen that will upset me. 

I'm putting the rest of this in spoiler tags just in case.

[spoiler]From the trailers, I get that Franco's character has been doing research, trying to find a treatment or cure for Althizmers.  He ends up taking a chimp home and uses his drug on the chimp..Caesar, who then becomes very intelligent.  Franco teaches him sign language and it looks like Caesar becomes very attached to him and the father of Franco's character..like a family.  Then something happens and Caesar is taken back to the lab and stuck in a cage all while he is signing that he wants to go home.  I'm thinking he is taken there because he went out of the house and did something he saw as protecting the father when someone was having a fit in the street.  So Caesar is taken away from the really the only home he's known.  He didn't ask to be experimented on.  He adjusted to it, seems to have come to see them as his family, and then he's taken away from them.  That will probably really upset me.  I remember seeing in the trailers Caesar hitting the glass signing that he wants to go home while Franco's character tells him he can't go home.  That little bit already kind of bothered me in the trailer..along with a few of the shots of Caesar's face where he looks so sad.  I'm thinking now that I won't deal well with that part of the movie.  Though I'm guessing all that is what motivates Caesar to swipe the drug and expose the other chimps.  [/spoiler]

Ok..I'm done now..I didn't mean to take over your thread.  I just got to thinking more, especially when you mentioned Caesar's emotions. 

Now I don't know what I'll do..maybe I'm over thinking it.  But then again...I didn't expect to react to King Kong like I did either...

[Achim]

[spoiler]From the trailers, I get that Franco's character has been doing research, trying to find a treatment or cure for Althizmers.  He ends up taking a chimp home and uses his drug on the chimp..Caesar, who then becomes very intelligent.  Franco teaches him sign language and it looks like Caesar becomes very attached to him and the father of Franco's character..like a family.  Then something happens and Caesar is taken back to the lab and stuck in a cage all while he is signing that he wants to go home.  I'm thinking he is taken there because he went out of the house and did something he saw as protecting the father when someone was having a fit in the street.  So Caesar is taken away from the really the only home he's known.  He didn't ask to be experimented on.  He adjusted to it, seems to have come to see them as his family, and then he's taken away from them.  That will probably really upset me.  I remember seeing in the trailers Caesar hitting the glass signing that he wants to go home while Franco's character tells him he can't go home.  That little bit already kind of bothered me in the trailer..along with a few of the shots of Caesar's face where he looks so sad.  I'm thinking now that I won't deal well with that part of the movie.  Though I'm guessing all that is what motivates Caesar to swipe the drug and expose the other chimps.  [/spoiler]

Are you sure you haven't seen it yet...?

Well, if just emotional distress of the animal (Caesar, in this case) will give you a hard time, then yes, this movie would give you a hard time. You'd probably hate Draco Malfoy even more, too Interestingly, the things that would give you trouble all happen in the first two thirds and you'd probably be cheering all (most of) the way through the the third act. But, maybe it's better to skip this one...

And I did not think you are taking over the thread, I mean, we are talking about the movie, aren't we?  If there was no further discussion, just my review, then what's the point?

[Dragonfire]

No I haven't seen the movie.  I got all that from the trailers I've seen.  Which is why I've said that I kind of feel like I've seen the movie already.  Maybe the trailers in other countries aren't showing as much.

[spoiler]So was I right about Caesar getting attached to Franco and his dad?  And he wasn't happy about being locked up back in the lab...and that leads to him breaking out of his cage, stealing the drug and exposing all the other chimps in the lab..and leading the uprising.  Can he communicate with the other chimps after he exposes them to the drug?  [/spoiler]

I had been thinking I wouldn't see it..even before I really thought about why...then I saw some good reviews of it, and was sort of interested.  I just don't know.  I do think Caesar and his emotional distress will get to me, especially knowing that Serkis is performing as him.  So..I'm thinking I won't see it.  But I could change my mind.  lol  And I already really, strongly dislike Draco.  I'm not sure I need more against him.  I may end up never wanting to see him again.

Ok..well...I wasn't thinking my clearest earlier.  I know we've had long discussions about different movies before.  My brain must have taken a little nap earlier.

[Achim]

Yes, the trailer gave it all away... But most people want to see the last 30min

Can he communicate with the other chimps after he exposes them to the drug?  [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Plot point revealed!]Umh, yes. In fact, it's around the time that he organizes the revolution the he utters he first "word": No. Hope I am not spoiling too much, but since you are unlikely to se it... Btw, I forgot to mention, Caesar is not being experimented on at any point, he inherited his ability from his mother, who had been given the drug.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=More *about* the ending]what I liked was, the the film indeed does not end with a successful revolution. That would have been ridiculous and the plot hole I referred to; there just isn't enough apes...[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Description of the ending for those who don't want to see the film or seen it already.]Instead they introduce the fact, that the virus that make the apes smart is fatal for humans. This then plays out through the end credits, supposedly killing the majority of humans tipping the scale in favor of the apes, hence opening up the chance for a sequel. I found that rather clever.

All the apes try to do here is get to the Redwood Forrest north of SF in order to be free. Much smaller scale than the title suggest. At the Forrest Franco meets Caesar again, trying to take him home. Here Caesar speaks a seond time, the three words Caesar is home.[/spoiler]