Film poster

A rising trend in the film industry is remakes: Spiderman, The Hulk, Superman, Batman – some good films came out of it. Great in some cases. But what a lot of the remakes lacked was originality.

With Rise of the Planet of the Apes, though – the first in a trilogy of new Apes movies – you get just that. This is the newer, more acceptable version of how the apes got smart. The much earlier Escape from the Planet of the Apes(1971) had the same oh-too-human apes and an explanation of their genius in the future. This latest addition to the Planet of the Apes films brings us closer to the humans and towards a more likely scientific development that makes the apes the dominant species of the planet.

Every one of these films has had a featured ape that a human got along with. The focus of this film: Caesar. He’s been in the promo stills, the poster and he’s the centre of attention for the story. Smart, likeable and – thankfully – not too human.

The basic error of the previous films, for me at least, was how creepily human the apes were. They weren’t apes anymore. They were an ape-human cross breed. Only their brains were meant to have developed, but the obvious limits on design made them the most frightening apes you would ever lay your eyes on.

But Caesar… When you first meet him…

Little Baby Caesar

You can’t help but love baby Caesar. Even the growing-up Caesar is likeable. Until he gets scary – as apes do, in these films – he’s a very likeable character. It’s much easier to sympathise with his loneliness and isolation, confusion and anger, than it is with any of the other apes from the other films, and most of the humans to boot! Yes, James Franco does do a good job in this film: he acts the role well, you do feel sorry for him (when you’re not thinking, very early into the film, that he’s doomed humanity!) for the trouble he goes through. That’s very important for this film, beyond all the others, that you feel for the two primary characters: human and ape.

It makes what happens much more fun. You will see in the trailer, things don’t exactly stay peachy. Caesar sort of lives up to his name, a bit.

Caesar

Ape-eror Caesar?

An ape doesn’t get scarier than when it’s angry and/or waging war. The changes in this film – the plot points that will rename a secret until you see the film – are what really get the audience going. You want Caesar to succeed but you also don’t want humanity to die a horrible death. How it’s all done is much better executed than I imagined it would have been, and that’s a huge credit to everyone involved. This could have been a scenario where apes got smart and just took over, just like that. But that wouldn’t have been true to the other films: apes didn’t just execute world domination. Apes gradually became the dominant species. They couldn’t have done a better job at this film if they tried.

My only problem? The possibility for a sequel. Yes, I liked the film. But no, I would not like another Planet of the Apes film. Humanity’s inevitable struggle against the rise of the apes would make for an action film, yes, but not one everyone would want to see. I don’t think I have to point out that the film would follow the lines of Doomed on the Planet of the Apes, in which humans cannot possibly win without undoing forty three years’ of film history. The apes have to win, no matter what. Our demise wouldn’t make a good film.

How and ever, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is worth going to see. I would consider this a remake of Escape, and a better job at it, too, as it’s turned the franchise towards a better course and made the memorable reality of the previous Planet of the Apes films (1968 and 2001) something worth more than shock value – they’re more believable now, than ever, thanks to this latest, and brilliant, addition to their ranks.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Age Certificate: US – PG-13, UK and Ireland: 12a.
Release dates: US – August 5th 2011, UK – August 11th 2011, Ireland – August 12th 2011

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