'Apes' causes you to suspend your disbelief one too many times

Rating: 4/10 (18 August 2011)

If you're willing to accept the basic premise of 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', then clearly you'll have to suspend your disbelief. I was initially willing to do that because a true-life similar idea—the genetic modification in our food supply--is very much part of the public consciousness today. Is it that far off to suggest that in the near future, scientists might develop some kind of retrovirus that will alter the genetic makeup of advanced mammals, such as both chimps and humans alike? While the whole idea of chimps becoming intelligent as humans is far-fetched, the possibility still bears some relationship to a set of plausible, scientific ideas.
In its simplistic way, 'Apes' is a cautionary tale that points to the limits of scientific knowledge. Will Rodman's retrovirus initially cures his father of Alzheimer's disease but eventually it proves to be a complete failure. Even worse, the virus ends up infecting all of humanity and the apes eventually take over. The desire for profits outweighs safety concerns involving scientific research. How many times have we seen that?
Unfortunately, the suspension of one's disbelief happens one too many times throughout this film. Take for example the opening scene where the female chimpanzee 'Bright Eyes' goes on a rampage, in an attempt to protect her baby (later adopted by Rodman and named 'Caesar', consistent with the earlier Planet of the Ape storyline.) It's curious that none of the scientists at the laboratory noticed Bright Eyes was pregnant. More unbelievable is that Jacobs, Rodman's boss, doesn't fire him on the spot as he is responsible for Bright Eyes' mayhem and the obvious bad publicity engendered by the crazed chimpanzee's rampage.
Another aspect of the film I had trouble accepting was that no one got wind of Caesar during the three years he was living with Rodman at his house. Given the chimp's growth and curiosity, I would have thought that Rodman and his girlfriend could have hardly kept him locked up in the house all that time. When they do go to see the Redwoods, at a major tourist spot, there are few people there and only one person there notes that a chimpanzee is present. I doubt Rodman would have escaped the scrutiny of a park ranger who could have easily been notified via cellphone by anyone horrified to see a chimpanzee being led around on a leash.
Another awkward moment was the fight between the nasty neighbor and Rodman's Alzheimer's afflicted father. Why was the neighbor such a nasty character to begin with? Rodman could have easily took him aside when he moved in and mentioned that his father had Alzheimer's. That way he would not have reacted the way he did when the father got inside his car and started wrecking it!
Perhaps the most unbelievable moments in the film is when Rodman's boss suddenly reverses his decision to fund Rodman's experiments a second time around. You remember how vehement he was in shutting the over eager neuroscientist down the first time around? Not only that, Jacobs made it quite clear that Rodman was in the doghouse since the Bright Eyes fiasco. But all of a sudden, he's willing to back him merely on Rodman's assertions that the retrovirus had worked on his father, temporarily!!! No proof whatsoever—Jacobs suddenly believes Rodman, merely upon his word and nothing else!
'Apes' really goes 'ape' when Caesar 'sprays' his fellow simian crew and they now have the ability to break out of the primate facility where they've been imprisoned. How is it that the chimps and apes they release from the San Francisco Zoo (who were NOT sprayed with the virus) are able to join the team of intelligent simians, and successfully defeat their human opponents? In a big city such as San Francisco, it sure seemed like there were a lot more apes available for combat than would have been available in reality. And where was the Army for that matter? This would have been a major news event and certainly wouldn't have been left to the local police force. More incredible is that the simian rampage is never shown as a breaking news story in any media, local or national.
It appears that the films' scenarists attempt to justify the 'revolt' of the apes as they are depicted as being victims of unethical scientists allied with rapacious businessmen as well as gamekeepers guilty of animal cruelty. Humans get short shrift here and only Rodman, his girlfriend and Rodman's temporarily aware Dad (sans the Alzeheimer's), appear to have some kind of moral conscience. In this light, one sees that most of the characters here are pretty one-dimensional.
Finally, 'Apes' gets pretty lazy in finding a way to dispose of most of humanity, which will explain the rise of the simians. It's simply your basic 'contagion', where a virus leads to nosebleeds and the implied demise of millions. Somehow, I wanted something a little more clever than such a trite explanation explaining the end of humans' dominion over the animal kingdom.
'Apes' does well in the CGI department and despite the hokey storyline, keeps your interest. Perhaps the best moments involve Rodman's bonding with Caesar as he grows up. I only wish the screenwriters tried to make things a bit more plausible. Even science fiction must have some credibility if it's going to work at all!