An Electrifying Prelude & Rousing Character Study

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2017)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes isn't an allegorical powerhouse like the 1968 classic, though it's still substantially more realized than 2001's abomination. What impresses me about this film however (and makes up for its comparative allegorical thinness), is its remarkable complexity as a character study. Spectacular action aside. . . . this film blew me away.
Rise is directed by Rupert Wyatt, and despite his relative lack of experience yielded spectacular results. This film has an unprecedented sense of momentum: everything from the montages to the tension to the seamless action leaves me utterly breathless, and paired with its relatively short runtime, flies by and boasts an extraordinarily high rewatchability factor. There are a few dubious edits here and there, sometimes in the cinematography, sometimes in the music, but is otherwise a very tightly shot and edited feature.
The director of photography is award-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, who is more than worthy of mention here. The cinematography throughout is breathtaking, with majestic wide shots of the forest, the ape compound, and the city in general. It's also rather intelligent in its usage of visual motifs, juxtaposing cages and windows throughout in a reversal on expected themes. Here, the windows represent false hope/freedom, and the cages represent incitement for revolution. My only issue in regards to cinematography is the "face falling on the camera" motif, which though interesting, is a little dubious. Thankfully, it's not obnoxious in context. Lesnie was actually DOP for the Lord of the Rings trilogy (which explains a lot), though he isn't the only carry-over from Middle Earth.
The special effects by WETA Digital are magnificent, and are some of the best out there. Though if you've acquired an eye for CG then you'll still notice it here in select instances. One potential mistake I caught is that the size of Caesar's eyes sometimes appear inconsistent, though that could be a misperception. It gets better in the follow-ups, but this film still boasts some of the best-looking apes in cinematic history.
The screenplay is by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and despite its simple plot, features compelling concepts throughout. Though not an allegorical heavyweight, the revolution on the bridge appears to be modeled after civil rights movement race riots and even contemporary police brutality, though it's not anything as profoundly realized and intricate as 1968's masterwork. Commentary on animal rights/testing ethics are also present, though it's the obvious choice and hence isn't particularly impressive. To the film's credit, the ape revolution is now more believable than it was in the original movies, with a sci-fi premise that bends reality no more than it has to.
The film still has its fair share of fun with delightful easter eggs for fans of the original, but more importantly presents us with a character worthy of study. Caesar is an exploration of duality and isolation. For one, Caesar is set up with a dilemma in which he has seen the good and bad of both apes and humans, inciting an inherent internal conflict which he does not yet understand. On the other hand, he is the only one of his kind. As the only ape born with the enhanced intelligence, he feels a certain kind of isolation. He's a character of two worlds, doomed not to feel at home in either of them. This kind of intelligent, complex character writing creates various avenues for subsequent films, and makes the film for me. One flaw worthy of noting is the dialogue, which at times is a little clichéd, and could have benefited from another read-through or two. The best characters in the film didn't actually need much dialogue though, so it's not as detrimental as it could have been.
The characters/performances are a little mixed in quality, but overall positive. The apes across the board emote spectacularly, enabling the audience to understand and sympathise with their characters without the need for dialogue. Andy Serkis in particular (another Lord of the Rings carry-over) is phenomenal as Caesar. His performance is the the epitome of physicality and expression, synchronously nuanced, powerful, and heart-wrenching. He nearly had me in tears at several moments throughout the film, masterfully unveiling the complex internal tragedy of his character.
First thing about the humans: James Franco is not the main character--apparently there's been some confusion there. He serves but as a transitionary lead, since the story is clearly about Caesar. That being said, Franco is fine in this film. I don't know if I've seen him better, but he's competent. Many of the other human characters (though good in their roles), are simply fulfilling archetypes. I quite enjoyed Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and David Oyelowo, yet they weren't any different than what I expected them to be. John Lithgow however is fantastic, and Tyler Labine as Franklin was very likable. Freida Pinto is fine, albeit kind of unnecessary and highlighting a lack of female characters with comparable depth to the male ones. That being said, the supporting characters we did get were sufficient, and it's better not to force in characters for the sake of a quota.
The musical score by Patrick Doyle succeeds brilliantly on a melodic level and proves to be quite memorable, despite bearing an almost-formulaic epic-inspirational style. It doesn't compare on the avant-garde spectrum established by Jerry Goldsmith, but provides propulsive percussion nonetheless, and serves the emotional, character- driven narrative excellently, better than most films of its decade I dare say.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is one of my very favorite action movies, but like most of my favorite action movies, it's actually far more than that. There are layers in this film from the intricate focal character to the intelligent, motivic cinematography, and it sustains the kind of intelligence that made Planet of the Apes great in the first place.
Score: 9/10