Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

            If any film this year has been difficult to anticipate, this is it. Is it a prequel to the 1968 classic? Is it a semi-remake of the 4^th film in the cycle, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes? Will the special effects, slightly uneasy in the trailer, be convincing enough? Wasn’t Rise of the Apes a better title, if we’re honest? Are you going to force me to watch the excremental Tim Burton Apes film again?!

But enough rhetoric! It turns out that, despite some clear nods to the original film, this is its own beast and you need have no knowledge of Ape-lore to enjoy it. The special effects are almost exceptional, with the genuinely impressive facial expressions and body language being marred only by the standard CGI complaint that the effects geezers still can’t quite create effects, holistically, to fool the human eye when it comes to creating living creatures. That’s small grapes though, the Ape effects are easily sophisticated enough to tell the story, and the story and script are well worth the telling.

Fresh from his debut with independent British prison film The Escapist, director Rupert Wyatt has gone straight into the big budget blockbusters, and he seems undaunted. Despite bringing all the standard excitement required of a summer “tentpole”, Rise has a smart and well crafted story, one that rings true despite its fantastical premise, and one that is not even slightly preachy (a rarity from any film that comes close to involving the environment these days). James Franco is solid as co-lead, but the real star is Andy Serkis’ motion-captured Caesar. It’s is hard to tell how much of the performance is down to the actor, but whoever gets the credit, the lead monkey (sorry, ape) give a subtle and compelling performance, conveying so much with just physical expression. The supporting cast is also well selected, with Harry Potter alumnus Tom Felton turning in a suitably evil performance. I would say I hope he avoids typecasting, but he’s just so good at playing the malicious weasel types that I wouldn’t mind seeing him do that for a little while longer.

This is very much the sort of blockbuster I like to see, a well written story with interesting characters that only incidentally uses lots of special effects to tell said story. Film of the summer? Yes. Film of the year? Well… I wouldn’t be too unhappy if it was.

****/*****