Before I crack on you may be wondering how this film fits my lockdown theme? Well the end of the film has the human race almost wiped out by a virus. No I don't care that it happens in the credits and is only there to set up a sequel, it counts, Anyway moving swiftly on. 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011) was a film that kicked off a franchise I genuinely enjoyed and was excited for, seeing both sequels, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and 'War for the Planet of the Apes' (2017), very early into their release cycles. However, it is also a franchise for which I just don't have any great urge to revisit despite really liking all three films. Well, due to the lockdown I find myself back where the franchise began and ready to step back into the Planet of the Apes. The film follows Will Rodman (James Franco) who works as a scientist trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's. In order to do this they are testing the drugs on apes. When one of the apes becomes aggressive, wreaking havoc and eventually being killed it puts a swift end to the research. However, the killed ape had a baby which Rodman takes home and raises. Naming the ape Caesar (Andy Serkis), Rodman soon realises that the drug has passed down genetically and has increased Caesar's brain function, making him super smart. However, after attacking a neighbour who was being aggressive towards Will's father, Charles (John Lithgow), he is taken to an ape sanctuary where he and his fellow apes are mistreated. With his intelligence still increasing and his anger towards humans growing, Caesar plots an escape for him and his fellow apes.
There is one major aspect of this film that is going to take precedence over all others, but before I get into it I think it is only fair I look at the other aspects of the film. On a narrative level the film is solid. The writing all works and the character motivations are all warranted and feel earned. There are some aspects of the narrative that the film focuses on a lot but that don't really get any proper payoff, namely the effect of Charles Alzheimer's on himself and Will. It fits the narrative and gives Will motivation to move the narrative forward, but it focuses a lot on it without really paying it off. There is also the narrative aspect of the virus that appears from the Alzheimer's cure. It is really pushed to the side and only mentioned a couple of times. It is clear it is only there to set up the sequel and doesn't really add to the narrative of the here and now. The action set pieces of the film are all a ton of fun. There aren't loads of action scenes, but when they come they are great. But of course, this film was sold on its CGI effects and it is quite remarkable how well they still hold up 9 years after the fact. There are a couple of wonky moments where it doesn't look all that great, but for the most part it still all looks brilliant. All the apes feel real. You feel like you are looking at living, breathing animals with character and personality rather than at computer generated images and the filmmakers have to applauded for their incredible work. Of course, these effects are helped in their realism by the brilliant performances of the actors portraying these characters.
It is quite funny how the best performances in the film come from the actors playing apes. Not to say that the actors playing human characters are bad, but the actors playing apes did such an incredible job that it really overshadows all the other actors. Tom Felton probably puts in the weakest performance as Dodge Landon. It is a little cartoony and hammy, but it's not terrible (although his American accent could do with some work). All the other human characters are matched with good performances, but there is one performance that stands head and shoulders above all others and that is Andy Serkis as Caesar. This man is the absolute king of motion-capture. His most iconic role is obviously as Golem, and he had had practice as an ape in 'King Kong' (2005), but I think this may actually be his most impressive performance. His ability to portray so much emotion and personality with no dialogue is impressive enough, but to do it while also managing to believably portray an actual chimpanzee with all the body movements and mannerisms is astounding. It is a genius performance, and one that he builds upon brilliantly in the two sequels. Caesar is the best part of all three films and Andy Serkis needs to take so much credit for this.
'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' is a really good film that led to a really good franchise. The narrative is engaging and fun and the action scenes are exciting. The CGI still looks brilliant despite its age. There are a couple of moments where it looks a little wonky but you can forgive it due to the fact 95% of it still looks incredible. All the actors do a great job, but the real selling point of this film, and the whole franchise, is Andy Serkis' portrayal of Caesar. It has an emotion and personality to it that beats out all the other actors, but is also an incredible performance of a chimpanzee. He does an incredible job and I would recommend this film just for his performance even if the rest was crap. Fortunately the rest is not crap and if you haven't seen it you should get on that. As for me, I have the Caesar itch again so may spend this bank holiday weekend catching up with him.