I Still Like The Original Better

Rating: 6/10 (20 November 2016)

Unlike the previous "Planet of the Apes" film, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" may have had the simians upgraded in their level of smarts, but it's the jilted dialogue within the performers that held back its fullest potential.
From the lacking Oscar speech from actor James Franco, this movie marks the first time a live-action film was nominated for an Oscar where the views and perspectives are seen through the eyes of a responsive ape who has the capabilities to function like a human, who can plan, organize and be the catalyst towards a revolution and can bond nicely with the viewers watching. That's all very provocative and insightful and has everything you would want in a blockbuster summer film, but the movie loses substantial points due to the dialogue which was very limp and not very well structured.
I may have seen tons of movie sequels and reboots and remakes, but as a huge fan of the original 1968 "Planet of the Apes" with Charlton Heston, I still find myself asking, why can't Hollywood leave well enough alone. Does every good film have to spawn into a franchise where the sequels never measure up let alone the remakes? With the advanced CGI that was used to make "Avatar", seeing a person dressed as an ape has become nothing more than an afterthought. Now we have Andy Serkis who once again finds himself playing a non-human character by way of capture technology. Here he plays Caesar, an intelligent simian who's educational merit deprives of anything that was magical about the original "Planet of the Apes" movies.
He got his advanced intelligence when a pharmacy scientist Will Rodman (Franco) was hoping to find a cure for his senile father (an always impressive John Lithgow) who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He was working on an antidote that might rectify the damaged brain tissues that cause your brain to progressively malfunction. Caesar's parents was one of Will's experimental projects but was annexed due their violent outbursts. Will does the only humane thing by letting Caesar go to live with him as a father.
When I saw this movie, I thought about a documentary I saw titled "Project Nim" which focuses on a chimpanzee who was very capable of learning by being home-schooled. Chimpanzees are the main subjects to film these days. After all they come closest in the animal kingdom to adapt to human interaction. Maybe one day they might even surpass us if we're lucky or unlucky depending on your point of view.
Although James Franco is great performer, his role isn't all that convincing. It's mainly due to the hack effort script by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa. The dialogue seems to be lowered to "what are you saying"? The plot points just seem to go on like were being spoon-fed. Is it just me or does director Rupert Wyatt think that people who like summer blockbusters are dumber than apes?
The initial climax escalates when the mighty Caesar (Hail Caesar!) leads his fellow chimps on an epic revolt in San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. I was hoping we were going to witness a King Kong moment where Caesar would be romantically infatuated over a Jane Goodall wannabe primate specialist played by Frieda Pinto. But not the case. Instead we're left in the wings as the film morphs into another sequel in the franchise. It was a good effort that caught my attention but came up short. Hopefully the sequel will be better. Only time will tell. Until then the 1968 film is still the best of them all.