Ape Fear

As usual, I'm behind the times, but better late than never they say. I had an opportunity to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes a couple weeks ago - a film which has surprised a number of people as it relates to its performance at the box office. Having seen the movie now, I can't say that it's performance has shocked me, but if you would have asked me at the beginning of the summer if I had planned on seeing this, I would have said no.

A large part of what drew me in to see this latest entry in the sci-fi franchise is the visual effects that made these monkeys possible. Using the same people who worked on Avatar, as well as the movements of the underrated Andy Serkis, these creatures come to life on the big screen in impressive fashion. While the focus is on Cesar, the ape who initiates the revolt against the humans, there are several simian characters who get significant screen time. Each of these monkeys is distinct enough for you to know who they are (something that hasn't been said of the Transformers) and the visual effects crew does a nice job of allowing these creatures to be able to express certain emotions without it coming off as being fake or unrealistic.

The other interesting thing about the film that is partially credited to the visual effects team is the way they are able to put these apes into several story archetypes and you instantly recognize what the film is going for. Packed within this film you get a prison story, a family drama, comedy, romance and everything else. Despite being primative beings, I instantly related to what they were experiencing. In many ways, you come to root for the apes success as you watch the film.

This is not to say that there isn't some good acting from the human cast as well. The director smartly brought in a number of terrific character actors who nicely fill out the film. James Franco is the lead as a scientist who is testing the apes in order to develop a new drug aimed at curing Alzheimers. Of course, he has a personal investment in his work since his father (played in an understated manner by John Lithgow) is currently suffering from the disease. Some of the actors in the cast include Freida Pinto, who plays Franco's girlfriend, Tyler Labine as Franco's lab assistant, and the always terrific Brian Cox has a few scenes as the director of an ape sanctuary. I should also mention Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, is more evil here playing a cruel worker at the ape sanctuary than he was in any of the Potter films.

Overall, this is a really solid film, but yet as I watched it there were several things that bothered me. None of them were so severe that made me dislike the film, but so many of them were things that if fixed could have turned this film into something special. One of these things was the attention to detail, or lack there of, when it came to signifying a change over time. The entire film takes place over at least an 8 year span, yet none of the human characters appear different. There is no change of haircuts, wardrobe, or signs of aging in any way. That lack of change frequently takes you out of the moment and causes you to scratch your head in confusion. There are also some pretty blatant moments of editing where a scene would suggest something will happen immediately next, yet that scene never comes. I'm not sure if these quibbles will become more apparent or less apparent upon repeat viewings, but I think they still merit mentioning here. Watching the film, I got the sense that they had shot their budget entirely on making the apes look great, so they had nothing left to put into the rest of the production. Since it appears, based on the film's conclusion and success at the box office, that there will be another Apes film made at some point, I hope they take notice of these small flaws and correct them.

I hate to be so nitpicky about a film that deals with apes taking over the world, but I can't help but dwelling on them. If Joe Moviegoer can pick up on those things, why couldn't anyone who worked on the film? But while they're important to point out, I don't want to dwell on them. I am recommending this film as it serves as some excellent blockbuster entertainment as the summer comes to a close. Even if you've never seen any of the previous Apes films before or feel like you wouldn't enjoy this, I would suggest you reconsider. This is a film that is never slow and offers a number of nice moments. And when it comes to those nitpicks I mentioned, just act like the monkeys in the 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' statue. Grade: B+