Starring: James Franco; Andy Serkis; Freida Pinto; John Lithgow; Brian Cox; Tom Felton
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Ebert's Review- 3 Stars
Leo's Review- 3 Stars
We now seem to be living in the world of Movie Prequels. It started years back with "Star Wars" Episodes 1, 2 and 3. Then we got "Casino Royale", the J. J. Abrams "Star Trek", "X-Men: First Class"; Soon we will see "The Hobbit", the prequel to "Lord of the Rings". This has caused me to wonder why movie studios did not ask directors to start from the beginning in the first place? This is a topic for later.
Last week I saw "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", what is essentially the prequel to the original 1968 Charlton Heston film "Planet of the Apes". Or is it the prequel to Tim Burton's 2001 version (also titled "Planet of the Apes")? Either way, I know this movie is a prequel to a movie titled "Planet of the Apes".
In "Rise", we find out how the Apes become smart, like humans, resulting in what will be their eventual taking over of planet earth. James Franco plays Will Rodman, a scientist trying to promote and develop a drug that will improve brain function in humans. The drug is called ALZ 12 and is believed to be a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Rodman is doing his study on chimps. After a wild Chimp ruins a presentation about the drug, Rodman loses all faith of any investors or any funding for the drug. Eventually, Rodman takes a chimp into his home and starts to do his own work with a chimp named Caesar. Through the magic of motion sensor capture, Caesar is played by Andy Serkis, famous for his portrayal of Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy. As the drug continues to work, Caesar continues to grow. The drug allows him to become smarter, and we as the viewer see Serkis' as Caesar portray that growth. As he did in "LOTR", Serkis is a talented actor for using his body to mimic movement just like how a real chimp would. Serkis is really the star of the film where all human dialogue seems to fade away and the Apes steal the spotlight.
While Caesar is kept up in Rodman's house he spends his time with Rodman's sick father Charles (played by John Lithgow). Without it being said, Rodman's father is the reasoning behind his studies. His Dad is suffering from Alzheimer's and he is determined to prove that his drug to cure it works. Scenes of the interaction between Lithgow and Caesar are charming and Caesar is happy with his life. But eventually some animals are not meant to be kept away from others of their kind.
The movie takes off when Caesar is kept at a primate facility. Tom Felton plays Dodge Landon, a keeper at the facility who mistreats all the primates. Caesar feels alone and thinks those that loved him have abandoned him. He makes friends with some of his fellow primates but also knows that he is smarter than most. If he is going to get out of his caged environment he must find the drug and find a way to get it to the other apes. His anger will help lead all the other Apes to "Rise" up against the humans.
Overall, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a good movie. It has some small flaws; a cheesy "damn dirty ape" line, the acting takes a back seat to the apes, and really the movie only tells the story of the apes taking control of San Francisco-not the planet. But as I said earlier the great part of this film is Serkis; he and the rest of the motion captured crew steal the show. You start to believe that you are watching trained apes- not human beings "acting" as trained apes. Ebert agrees as well stating, "One never knows exactly where the human ends and the effects begin, but Serkis and/or Caesar gives the best performance in the movie."
COMMENT STARTER: What did you think about "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"? Do you feel that Hollywood is doing too many prequels? In "Rise" the story tells you that the planet the apes will take over is Earth. So essentially, the mystery of the original 1968 version is ruined. Remember, Heston's character George Taylor does not know where he is. Does this matter? Or is it more like, "who cares, nobody has seen the 1968 version anyway"! Please let me know your thoughts!
3 STARS!
Read Roger's Review: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110803/REVIEWS/110809988
With a prequel it's assumed that you've seen the original movie, so it's not really spoiling anything. I think if you've seen the preview to Rise and think it looks like a cool movie, you'd see the original first. The whole point of the prequel is that you've already seen the original. In the Star Wars prequel, you should already know that Darth Vader will turn to the dark side and you care about how it came to be. One probably would not care to see the prequel (development of a story that's been told), if you don't have an emotional tie to the original. I personally don't think Hollywood has overdone the prequel. Now sequels, that's another story.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a good point. You have to wonder how many stories began, which were meant to be the beginning. Take this example. When the original planet of the apes was created, i doubt they had the prequel in mind. It was the only idea. Then, people started thinking about how they can capitalize on the story. You could think of virtually any movie in existence, and write a prequel to it. You could even write a prequel to a prequel. The possibilities are endless, and its one more way to keep fans of movies interested.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both comments. My only arguments is that the prequels sometimes seem like they forget that the original movies even exsisted. Basically what I am saying is that the prequel does not match up to the movies that came before it. In Star Wars there are many things that do not match up from Episodes 4, 5, 6 and 1, 2, 3. I only ask that if directors are going to to do a prequel that they actually WATCH the movies that were before so that we do not hear Princess Leia talk about knowing her REAL MOTHER in episode 6 and somehow her real mother has died in episode 3 giving birth to her.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that directors don't watch the originals before they make their prequels. Maybe that happens but I doubt it.
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