2014: The Year in Film: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" Review

The first latter-day Planet of the Apes flick was one of the more pleasant surprises in recent years. Even with the presence of a whole lot of James Franco, it was still a surprisingly emotionally effective portrait of Caesar, the legendary founder of the ape world referenced in the original Planet of the Apes, and how he came to be so special. Through Andy "Gollum" Serkis' CGI acting, Caesar came to be as fully realized and likable a character as any live human, so the sequel became one of my more highly anticipated movies of the year.

At the close of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we saw that the virus responsible for Caesar and the other apes' cognitive development was also lethal to humans and quickly spreading across the globe.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens with Caesar and his ape society several years later having built a peaceful society all their own in the forests of Northern California. A chance encounter with some humans scouting a nearby dam sets the human colony and the ape colony on an inevitable collision course.

The Good: First, props goes to everyone involved in bringing the apes to life. Sure they are CGI and don't always look as real as they maybe should - BUT THEY ARE 100% CGI and still look pretty damn great. These are characters who barely speak, if they speak at all, and they are wholly realized, developed, and capable of having emotionally resonant moments with one another and with their human counterparts. Special praise, obviously, goes to Andy Serkis as Caesar, who just might be one of the great characters, CGI or otherwise, in film of the last 10 years, (Not an exaggeration) but Maurice is especially endearing for me and Koba makes a pretty damn great villain. The human cast is strong as well, with the criminally underused Jason Clarke (BIG Jason Clarke fan over here, guys) standing out in a role that sees him interacting at least 50% of the time with CGI apes. Gary Oldman does more with his role than a lesser actor might have, and Keri Russell is more than adequate. The post-apocalyptic cityscape of San Francisco is pretty well done, and reminded me of The Last of Us.  But at its heart, this is a flick that's about humanity and apes battling, when we know that apes are going to win, and it still manages to be emotionally affecting, strangely touching, smart, suspenseful and occasionally Shakespearian. That's no small feat, especially for an effects-driven summer tentpole.



The Bad: some of the human characters were wooden and poorly drawn, which seems odd for a flick that gave so much development to CGI apes. The "bad" human at the heart of the onset of human-ape conflict was a caricature of a movie bad guy who seemed whisked right over from the set of The Walking Dead.  Additionally, Gary Oldman seems largely wasted - it seems odd to have an actor of his caliber in what amounts to a small role. The ape scenes are SO much better and more entertaining than the human scenes that we find ourselves rooting for the apes from the onset - which I'm not sure is exactly the point of the Planet of the Apes series.

In all, this is a surprisingly smart and touching summer blockbuster, one in which the action scenes serve a purpose and don't overwhelm everything else that's going on. At its heart, this is a film about Caesar, one charismatic CGI ape, and the best motion-capture acting happening anywhere right now.  This film has a lot to say, even if it's not QUITE as smart as it thinks it is, and I for one can't wait for the next installment.

8.5/10.

2011: The Year in Film: "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Review.

I'm not going to lie, until the reviews came back, I had absolutely zero interest in this one. I'm a big fan of the original Planet of the Apes (no, not the Marky Mark/Tim Burton version), and felt like the concept here may be betraying the spirit and message of the original. The mythology and concept behind the original Planet of the Apes and its decreasingly effective sequels is one of the cooler and high-minded concepts in classic sci-fi. The cold-war era antiwar message is poignant and extremely effective. So here we are with a reboot of the franchise and retooling of the origin tale., let's check it out, shall we? I was openly scoffing at the trailers for this one... up until the reviews came back. So after I read a couple of those reviews, I was interested enough to check this one out in the theaters on opening night, and I'm glad I did.

It's the near future (the exact date is never specified, but America is headed to Mars, so it's obviously not today), and scientist James Franco is nearing a breakthrough on his Alzheimer's cure. Chimpanzee test subjects are responding favorably to the treatment, one in particular. This chimpanzee gives birth, and Franco smuggles the infant home and raises him there. Over time, it becomes clear that the Alzheimer's drug has enhanced Caesar's (as he named the infant) intelligence, which is far above normal both for chimps and for humans of comparable age. A fateful incident leads to Caesar being taken by animal control, and he's sent to a great ape sanctuary. There, after being mistreated, he blossoms into a revolutionary leader and leads an uprising.

English director Rupert Wyatt was given the task of helming his first major Hollywood picture, and Planet of the Apes reboot, with James Franco, Jon Lithgow, Brian Cox and the absolutely gorgeous Freida Pinto filling out the leads. The man who may be the world's first CGI star, Andy Serkis (of Gollum and King Kong fame), was given the Herculean task of playing the all-CGI Caesar. The human leads are adequate, but the film really sings once Caesar becomes the focus. It's strange that someone/something that doesn't even exist can be so compelling and interesting a character. Caesar is charismatic, charming, funny, thoughtful, tragic, sad and above-all, good. We see through a character who hardly speaks the rise of the George Washington of apes.. and it's completely awesome to see. Serkis yet again knocks it out of the park.



My complaints are, simply, that the human parts of the film simply don't measure up to the ape-centric parts. Pinto, who plays a Primatologist, isn't given much to do, and doesn't add much to the flick other than window dressing. Lithgow, who plays Franco's Alzheimer's-afflicted father is solid, but simply isn't given enough to do. Franco's scientist, desperately seeking a cure for the disease that has ravaged his father, is by far the strongest human character, and really the only character who's given anything other than a stock personality.

Conversely, basically everything that centers on Caesar and the apes is great. There are several "characters" among the apes that are compelling, and that just speaks to the strength of the script. The film's second and third acts are extremely strong. The scenes dealing with the rise in Caesar as a leader and subsequent uprising are heart-wrenching and simply great. The script is outstanding, the directing is strong, the acting is more than adequate, and the effects are amazing. Caesar is expressive and more convincing than all but a handful of real-life human actors. His struggle and journey is heart-wrenching. My concerns over the plausibility of the story are more than handled by the script... I'll spare you major spoilage. Just be comfortable in the knowledge that they've successfully updated the mythology of the franchise from cold war era nuclear to something more modern and more in-line with present day realities. I am completely content with the updated treatment.

I would rank this as just behind Captain America and Super 8 as best "blockbuster" movies of the summer. This flick will be a giant hit, and deserves it. Rare is the film that is as rewarding to the viewer.. this is a true achievement. The crowd cheered several times during the flick.. that doesn't happen all that often. It's thoughtful, emotionally powerful and features a truly great character who manages to be completely compelling while speaking a grand total of 5 words.

8.2/10.. do yourself a favor and see this incredibly watchable flick in the theaters.