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patentdragonBlockbuster Season 2011 may be almost over, but tonight, it showed that even at the end, there are gems to be unearthed. Last year it was Scott Pilgrim, this time round, it's Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes...
I wasn't entirely sold on this movie when word of it got out, my opinions possibly coloured by Tim Burton's brave but flawed reimagining, and a feeling that some kind of rehash of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes - effectively the "origin movie" of the original film series - was hardly "must-see" material. These views, however, are entirely groundless.
This origin story is an entirely different kettle of fish barrel of monkeys, based around a radically different premise from the original series. One man's quest for a cure to his father's advancing dementia leads to a stunning breakthrough that seems doomed to failure - until the last, unexpected survivor of the aborted experiments reveals that he has inherited his mother's science-given gifts...
The movie's shining star is Andy Serkis, performance capture artist per excellence. Most famous for bringing Gollum to life for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and less remembered for King Kong, he turns to primates again, and absolutely rules the screen in his latest CG guise as orphaned super-chimp Caeser. In a ...Apes movie, you find yourself caring about the apes for the first time since Escape..., and that was because the ape characters were the ones trapped in a world they didn't know.
Do not go to see this expecting it to fit in with any existing continuity, even the Tim Burton movie. True, there are several out-and-out homages to the original films - including a character nicknamed "Bright-Eyes", the line "It's a madhouse!" and a delicious "damn dirty ape" from Tom "sorry, but you're stuck with the Draco Malfoy tag for now" Felton - but that's your lot. It's better to just let this film run with the story it sets out before you, and enjoy the ride. And enjoy it you will.
The CG is the most effective of the year so far, maybe because the computer-generated characters are based on animals that actually exist - chimps, gorillas and orangutans - and nothing overly fantastic is ever attempted, apart from some scenes where you find yourself thinking "bet they did that with a view to going 3D". Thankfully, they didn't, and the performances get to do their work without having to fight the polarised lenses.
Niggles are few in number. The total lack of biohazard containment at the lab did grate somewhat, particularly when it underlines a key element in what is now sure to be a new series of Apes movies, and maybe it would have been more of an "oooooh!" moment to have Caesar speak at the very end, like baby Caesar in the original films. As it unfolded on the screen this time, this moment didn't have anything like the impact of Taylor telling the apes where to go in the original movie. Small things, maybe, and definitely outweighed by all the "plusses".
From "hard to see myself going to see this" to "show me the sequels!" is quite a leap. These apes managed that, with room to spare.
The Final Word: Washes away any remain sour taste that might have lingered since Tim Burton's Apes offering in entertaining and topical fashion. Roll on the continuation... Score: 8.5/10
I wasn't entirely sold on this movie when word of it got out, my opinions possibly coloured by Tim Burton's brave but flawed reimagining, and a feeling that some kind of rehash of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes - effectively the "origin movie" of the original film series - was hardly "must-see" material. These views, however, are entirely groundless.
This origin story is an entirely different kettle of fish barrel of monkeys, based around a radically different premise from the original series. One man's quest for a cure to his father's advancing dementia leads to a stunning breakthrough that seems doomed to failure - until the last, unexpected survivor of the aborted experiments reveals that he has inherited his mother's science-given gifts...
The movie's shining star is Andy Serkis, performance capture artist per excellence. Most famous for bringing Gollum to life for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and less remembered for King Kong, he turns to primates again, and absolutely rules the screen in his latest CG guise as orphaned super-chimp Caeser. In a ...Apes movie, you find yourself caring about the apes for the first time since Escape..., and that was because the ape characters were the ones trapped in a world they didn't know.
Do not go to see this expecting it to fit in with any existing continuity, even the Tim Burton movie. True, there are several out-and-out homages to the original films - including a character nicknamed "Bright-Eyes", the line "It's a madhouse!" and a delicious "damn dirty ape" from Tom "sorry, but you're stuck with the Draco Malfoy tag for now" Felton - but that's your lot. It's better to just let this film run with the story it sets out before you, and enjoy the ride. And enjoy it you will.
The CG is the most effective of the year so far, maybe because the computer-generated characters are based on animals that actually exist - chimps, gorillas and orangutans - and nothing overly fantastic is ever attempted, apart from some scenes where you find yourself thinking "bet they did that with a view to going 3D". Thankfully, they didn't, and the performances get to do their work without having to fight the polarised lenses.
Niggles are few in number. The total lack of biohazard containment at the lab did grate somewhat, particularly when it underlines a key element in what is now sure to be a new series of Apes movies, and maybe it would have been more of an "oooooh!" moment to have Caesar speak at the very end, like baby Caesar in the original films. As it unfolded on the screen this time, this moment didn't have anything like the impact of Taylor telling the apes where to go in the original movie. Small things, maybe, and definitely outweighed by all the "plusses".
From "hard to see myself going to see this" to "show me the sequels!" is quite a leap. These apes managed that, with room to spare.
The Final Word: Washes away any remain sour taste that might have lingered since Tim Burton's Apes offering in entertaining and topical fashion. Roll on the continuation... Score: 8.5/10
