Wednesday, 21 September 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto) Posted by joeldfisher at 08:33

'I wanna be like you, I wanna walk like you, Talk like you, too, You'll see it's true, An ape like me, Can learn to be human too' (King Louis, The Jungle Book). Never have these words been so sinister. We go to zoos everyday, usually when on holiday and we see the apes in their enclosures behind the glass and laugh at how they almost seem to mirror our own mannerisms and love the way they look after and protect their families in similar ways to us. Evolution has taught us that we are descended from the apes, we can even teach some sign language to be able to communicate. The thing that Rise of the Planet of the Apes teaches us is, that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Will Rodman (James Franco; Your Highness, 127 Hours) is a scientist on the verge of a major breakthrough in human brain research, he holds the cure to Alzheimer's disease. Testing on the company's apes has already begun and the results are astonishing. However, when one of the test subjects 'Brighteyes' runs amok, the whole project is put into jeopardy. Rodman is forced into taking home Brighteyes' only child, a son that he calls Caesar. Little does he know what the ramifications will be, not only for himself and his family, but for the entire planet.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is, for those who don't know, the sixth in the Planet of the Apes series. After Beneath, Escape from, Conquest of and Battle for, The Planet of the Apes series reboots, in a sense to tell the story of how it all began. Set in modern day San Francisco (or maybe the not too distant future) the story is told with a careful balance of realism and science fiction. Of course there are apes in the movie that can do things that no other apes in reality can do but the story never forgets its human side and also never takes for granted the deeper issues such as those affected by Alzheimer's and the levels humans can go to, to abuse animals.

An impressive cast is pulled together including such names as Brian Cox (Ironclad, R.E.D.) as an evil zookeeper John Landon and John Lithgow (Season 4 of Dexter, Confessions of A Shopaholic) s Will's father, Charles, who has been infected by the disease that he's so desperate to cure. Also Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger) is added to the cast as Will's love interest Caroline and finding it hard to escape his Harry Potter bad guy roots, Tom Felton is deliciously evil as John Landon's son, Dodge.

However the real stand out performance in the movie, despite John Lithgow's always sympathetic and never cliched portrayal of a man with Alzheimer's, is Andy Serkis. For those who may not know, Andy Serkis is the performance capture king, not only being an award winning actor in his own right but also putting life to characters Golum from Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy but also putting in a performance as King Kong himself. It's very hard to distinguish actor from animation sometimes so the debate about performance capture has always been controversial. I for one had been won over by the footage on The Two Towers DVD of Andy Serkis' dual role as both Smeagal and Gollum in one scene, not only showcasing his acting ability but the technology as well but others still beg to differ.

If you feel any sympathy for Caesar, who Serkis portrays, or if you feel any fear or anxiety over the way Caesar is treated then I would say that you can fully put that down to Serkis' acting ability. You hardly ever forget that he's an ape but the scenes where the apes are 'rising' in order to rebel are done with the same intensity and organization that you'd expect to see in a prison movie. Andy Serkis shows us a character that goes from oppressed and angry teenager to defiant and rebellious man and does so just as realistically as if the character was human, and never says a word... well nearly.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes may introduce a whole new generation to the original film series and at the same time never waters down the intelligence and intensity of the original. For those with a keen eye and memory of Charlton Heston's cult movie, there are plenty of nods and things to look out for but it never forgets the new fans it may make. The films delivers just enough intelligence, intrigue and action to please most audiences.