The apes rise above all expectations

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2011)

I get a sparkle in my eye when there's a reboot to a series that regenerates the pleasure and enjoyment that audiences had with the original series like Batman, Sherlock Holmes, and the Incredible Hulk. Christopher Nolan changed the fate of the Batman franchise with Batman Begins and the Dark Knight as he brought the darkness of the Batman comics from the 1980s to life and changed how we think about the great detective and his ways. For many, Sherlock Holmes was forgotten and lost in the countless of television series and mostly forgotten movie adaptations, but Guy Ritchie took a chance and showed everyone the real Sherlock Holmes whose great detective skills, vast knowledge of martial arts, and all around craftiness makes his foes to think twice. Due to the box office failure of the 2003 reboot Hulk; fans were wondering if there could be a fun and true Hulk movie. In 2008, French director Louis Leterrier delivered an action-packed and suspenseful reboot that gave respect and honor to the popular comic book. Summer of 2011 is even more awesome because this year's reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise Rise of the Planet of the Apes by newcomer director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist). This film gives an emotional character study of intelligent ape Caesar performed by Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings and King Kong) as he rises to power and conquers the humans with his ape counterparts.
The movie begins with Caesar's mother Bright Eyes being captured by trappers somewhere in Africa and shipped to the states where she becomes a test ape for a company developing the cure to Alzheimer. After an unsuccessful cure pitch to the company board resulting in Bright Eyes' death, lead scientist Will Rodman played by James Franco (127 Hours) discovers her baby in her cage and decides to take the baby chimp home with him. Over the next 30 minutes, we, the audience, get to see Caesar grow up and his relationship with Will grow as well. Caesar's knowledge of humans being caring and respectful towards all Earth's creatures is disrupted when during a walk in a park he encounters a couple's dog that aggressively barks at him. The frazzled chimp has thoughts, since he as well is wearing a collar and a leash, if he to is just thought of a pet. This incident will makes matters worse as more and more occurrences happen that completely convinces Caesar that his kind and he should rise to stop this prejudice and segregation once and for all.
This film is very much Conquest of the Planet of the Apes the fourth installment in the original franchise. What makes this interpretation better than the original is the stronger emotional side to Caesar that sticks with the audience and ends up having them root for him during the rise. The real power behind this film is Andy Serkis and his motion capture skills of wonder. Serkis wears a diving-esque suit with little reflecting balls all over and neon dots placed every inch of his face that help bring Serkis' performance to simian life. His facial expressions and body movement really help suck you into the mind of this unique chimp.
Some people have been saying, "oh these apes are completely fake and that the C.G. is so bluntly obvious." All I can say is that the c.g. for these apes is the best example in recent years. Weta Digital, the people who created the c.g. for Gollum, King Kong, and the natives of Pandora in Avatar, created a masterful job in creating realistic apes of varieties like chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. The up-close shots are what convince you. Every little wrinkle, scar, strand of hair, and inch of skin texture totally fleshes out the apes.
I had a few minor complaints but they didn't take away from the film for me. This didn't really bother me, but this might for other big Planet of the Apes fans is the constant throw-in lines and references from the original series. They're such as a shot of a Charlton Heston, the star of the original, on a television screen, Heston's famous line "get your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape", and so on. For me, these touches were quick and didn't get in the way. Tom Felton (Harry Potter franchise) and David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland) play the film's main villains. Oyelowo is pretty much your money-grabbing company ass and Felton plays the punk son of Brian Cox (Braveheart) curator of the ape "sanctuary" where Caesar is sent to later in the movie. These characters aren't new in the world of antagonists, but they do a hell of a job in being the motivation to the apes' cause.
This movie delivers in everything you'd want from a well crafted sci-fi that has a great dramatic story for the humans and apes, awesome action during the third act, the c.g. is top-notch and flawless, and the acting from Franco and the rest of the cast was surprisingly quite good. I'm still rattled by And Serkis' performance that I really want the Academy of Motion Picture and Science to consider his performance for Best Actor for this year or even create a new category for voice and motion capture performances. The apes will conquer a four out of four popcorn bags rating. This is so far the best movie of 2011!