Rise of the Planet of the Apes makes the franchise fresh and relevant again

Rating: 9/10 (9 August 2011)

Let me start by saying I am a hardcore fan of the original Planet of the Apes franchise (the 1968-73 movies, and the two TV series that followed). It was my first 'franchise' love (this was pre-Star Wars, if that's conceivable). I had the Mego Apes treehouse playset as a kid and many of the other toys. The first POTA movie was (and is) a classic. The sequels that followed were of varying degrees of quality (some better; some worse). The Tim Burton movie.... oh, to hell with it. I don't want to spoil my good mood, so let's just forget that one, OK?
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is (more or less) a direct prequel to the 1968 POTA movie. To be more accurate, it is not only a prequel to the 1968 POTA, but also an interesting sideways remake of one of the original movie's sequels, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", from 1972. In that film, we saw the young talking ape Caesar (played memorably by the late Roddy McDowell) lead apes in a slave revolt in the far off future year of (*ahem*) 1991.
But whether you view "Rise" as prequel/remake or beginning of a new franchise, this movie delivers a rush of new blood and energy to the POTA franchise. The special effects seem effortless (some of the most moving, heartfelt motion capture performances I've ever seen, not to mention the rich texturing of the ape fur and their expressive faces; Weta has outdone their previous work). But despite the easy-to- take-for-granted technology on display, the humanity of the movie (ironic in a movie about apes) permeates every frame. This may in fact, be the best film I've seen this year so far; certainly this summer. It's intelligent science fiction with action scenes that are REALLY invested in the characters' fates and outcomes (both human and simian).
James Franco turns in another great performance ("127 Hours" was no fluke), and John Lithgow turns in an alternating sweet-natured and painfully heartbreaking performance as Franco's dad; whose struggle with Alzheimer's is the impetus for his son's research. Andy Serkis (the motion performer for Caesar the chimp) should REALLY be nominated for an Academy Award. His Caesar is an absolutely STUNNING performance achievement (motion capture or otherwise). Only Frieda Pinto gets a bit shortchanged as Franco's veterinarian girlfriend.
For the loyal POTA fan (which I am) there are TONS of throwaway references to the original; a female chimp referred to as "Cornelia" (after Cornelius, Roddy McDowell's ape from the first POTA movie; McDowell starred in four of the five original movies as well as the subsequent live-action TV show), and Caesar's mother is called 'bright eyes' (another 1968 POTA gag). There's a wise old orangutan named "Maurice" who learned sign language in a circus (named after Dr Zaius actor Maurice Evans), and another ape named 'Buck' (after after actor Buck Kartalian; another veteran of the original movie series). And the online rumor is true; we do indeed see the launch of Heston's spaceship from the first movie (the Icarus; apparently she was bound for Mars when she entered her relativistic time warp) and we read in a later newspaper headline that she's 'lost in space.'
The movie also does a nice job of 'cleaning up' some of the nagging continuity errors that plagued the original Apes' film series (from 1968-73). Mankind's downfall ties in more directly with the fate of the apes now, rather than a nuclear war (which would've presumably killed apes as well as humans). But despite a little bit of 'retconning' with the original (remember; even the original movie's sequels never got their own timeline straight), I was more surprised by how well this movie dovetailed with so much of the 1968 original. Several of Heston's classic lines are spoken by a sadistic zookeeper (yes, this character is a bit of a cliché, but he serves a vital function in the film). The zookeeper's name is Dodge Landon (named after Heston's two astronaut companions in the original). Heston himself even appears on a TV screen in a scene from "The Agony and the Ecstasy." So there are rewards for the loyal POTA fan, but these bits will not lose anyone who is unfamiliar with the franchise. Oh, and DON'T LEAVE when the end credits start... trust me (you'll miss vital information on the direction for a potential sequel).
It's impressive how the filmmakers were able to so nimbly walk the fine line between being loyal but not slavish to the original films; using what works, and discarding what doesn't. By doing a bit of Star Trek 2009-style tweaking with the POTA franchise, "Rise" makes the POTA franchise a viable entertainment for 21st century audiences who might be put off by the 1968 movie's perhaps vaunted (yet deserved) classic status. Sometimes tinkering with a classic can be challenging, but this film (sleekly and smartly directed by Rupert Wyatt) does so with an easy confidence.
"Rise" truly exceeded my expectations. A solid 9 out of 10.