“Rise of Planet of the Apes” is more than a fitting prequel to the 1968 classic “Planet of the Apes”. It is also a cautionary tale of human greed, aggression and ignorance.The dramatic opening scenes of a rampaging chimpanzee in a biotech lab…
“Rise of Planet of the Apes” is more than a fitting prequel to the 1968 classic “Planet of the Apes”. It is also a cautionary tale of human greed, aggression and ignorance.
The dramatic opening scenes of a rampaging chimpanzee in a biotech lab showcase the best of Weta Digital’s CGI, puts the audience on the edge of their seats and frightens off the investors in Gen-sys. This leaves Dr Will Rodman (James Franco) with no choice but take his work home with him and you all know how that works out in Hollywood.
Baby chimp Caesar (Andy Serkis) develops amazing talents thanks to Dr Rodman’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug and soon yearns to be treated more like an equal. We learn that the question “Am I a pet?” is a tricky one and best-avoided if an animal ever poses it to you.
It is a tribute to the special effects that so much of the story is communicated through the facial expressions of the apes: from Caesar’s wonder at the world around him through to the despair of the imprisoned apes that he meets.
This prequel does a great job of giving a plausible background to the original movie. In fact it’s disturbingly plausible. I slept better when the circumstances that Charlton Heston found himself in back in 1968 were still fanciful and far-fetched. The latest movie explains how the apes come to be the dominant species on the planet and why they loathe humans so much.
There are some many nods to the original that Madeleine and I started to lose track: we see a glimpse of the Icarus mission launch on the TV news, one of the characters is named “Dodge Landon” after two of the astronauts in the original and the scientists name Caesar’s mother “Bright Eyes” just as Dr Zira named Colonel Taylor in the original.
Madeleine picked that the hosing down of Caesar paralleled the treatment that the apes gave the humans in the original. In fact, she studied for the screening by getting the original film from Videon in Dominion Road to watch beforehand (remember to look for it in the Books to Movies section because it is based on the French novel of the same name). First-hand knowledge of the locations was also handy and Madeleine recognised the Muir Woods just north of the Golden Gate Bridge where the apes climb the Redwoods and gaze back at the civilisation they have escaped from. The question of what constitutes civilisation stares us in the face: is it represented by the selfish brutal humans looking to profit from a new wonder drug or the apes that display unity and self-sacrifice and are at one with nature?
Yes, it’s a grim moral tale if you are a human. It’s also thrilling and spectacular. Some of you will pause to reflect on the human condition, others will just demand better security at biotech labs.
Mark and Madeleine Brighouse, 1 August 2011.
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