RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Post-Release

What a career Andy Serkis has made for himself. Of course he owes it all to Peter Jackson but it's nice to see him expand in some other quality films such as this and as Captain Haddock in Tintin this Christmas. 

Serkis is not only the king of mo-cap, but always welcome, whether livening up The Prestige, or making Inkheart (almost) watchable. And I can't believe I didn't realize till today that he'd played Ian Dury-- I just added Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll to my Netflix queue.

Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll is fucking fantastic. Serkis almost redefines the term "tour de force" in his role as Dury.

 

I've got an article for Guy on this coming up probably next week, but anyone who hasn't played Enslaved should get on that post-haste for more testament to the awesome of Serkis.

I ran hot and cold on the movie, but to me it's absolutely incredible what Serkis and the effects team achieved with Caesar. I think the matte work and shadowing and general character outlines were kinda shoddy (all the apes consistently look 100% CGI, except for a pretty well done orangutan that seemed mostly practical). But the face tells the entire story. I think it was a deadly gamble in giving Caesar somewhat human facial characteristics, and in fact he seems even more expressive than Blue Steel James Franco. But the depth of performance and versatility of character in Caesar is remarkable, particularly because the story necessitates he go through a whirlwind journey, from domestication, to philosophical ennui, to fear, to rage, sometimes within the same moment.

 

There's a moment when Caesar first finds himself amongst apes and he tries to befriend them as if they were other humans only leads to them bullying and brutalizing him. It is absolutely stunning to see how Caesar reacts in this wordless sequence, to see the confusion and fear on his face, and, eventually, the slow understanding of a new social situation. Incredible work.

Such a welcome surprise after a summer that has tread dangerously close to being an endurance test. So good, and the kind of start any franchise could be proud of.

Agreed. It would be the equivalent of calling Lon Chaney a good "makeup" actor. 

 

Well, he is a good mo-cap actor, and he's made no bones about making it his primary marketable skill. It's kind of brilliant, actually. Lots of people have been doing this over the last ten years, but he's consistently delivered the best stuff and made himself known as the go-to guy for playing monkeys or what have you. He's the man, and if he really is a brilliant as everyone is saying, (in this, and likely Tintin) I could totally seeing him get a nomination, maybe even for the damn Apes movie, simply for the breadth of what he's been accomplishing. I could even see them giving him one of those special achievement oscars, as this actually seems like a situation that merits one.

 

I've been looking forward to this movie all summer, and I'm pleasantly surprised that it's getting good buzz now.

I felt the apes were in a 5 star movie and the humans were in a 3 star film. Luckily the film ends up more about the apes.

I didn't realise going in that several of the other apes would be supporting characters. The Circus Orangutan, Gorilla, alpha male and other test ape (Koba?) all stood out. I liked that they showed signs of agression that Caeser didn't (initially) have. Seemed like a nod to the gorillas/chimp divide of the later films. The other surprise was the 'rampage' at the end is smaller in scope than I thought for where this series goes. The goal is only to free the apes in the city and take them to the forest. It isn't an all-out monkey-pocalypse

Unfortunately, the end of human dominance on the planet (as seen in the credits, so I hope you didn't leave early!) has more to do with bad quarantine practices at the lab rather than anything thematically related to the apes. The behaviour of Franco and his boss were a bit confused. After stealing multiple test chemicals, a baby chimp and infecting his chimp handler, Franco then starts lecturing his boss that he's being too dangerous!

I thought Tom Felton and John Lithgow were the best of he humans. Felton was fairly one dimensional, but he at least he looked like he was putting some energy into it. I swear James Fanco was half asleep for most of this film.

And what else can be said about Ceaser and Andy Serkis. Totally amazing combination of acting and effects.

So everyone has seen this and there are tons of reviews but CHUD is still under embargo?

Surprisingly good. Some of the ads made this look like THE HAPPENING 2, but that turned to be misleading. The animated movements still seem strange at times, but you get so lost in Serkis' brillant acting that it doesn't really matter. I think he outdid himself, which may have to do with the fact that Caesar is not as expressive as Kong or Gollum.

So, could the next PLANET OF THE APES movie please have an interesting human character as well? Wahlberg felt totally lost in Burton's and Franco simply looks bored. Which is understandable as he's only a needed story tool to get Caesar from one point to another, not a fleshed-out character with a meaning.

 

I don't think calling him a good "mo-cap" actor is necessarily limiting: the point, it seems to me, is not that mo-cap is all he does; but rather that he has a level of skill for that kind of acting that (based on the evidence so far) not very many other actors do. Actually, after Doug Jones, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone else who's been consistently effective at it.
 

 

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/50662

Went to a screening of this tonight and didn't get there soon enough.  Turned away.

 

If there was ever an opportune time for an ape revolution... 

That moment in your spoiler was the moment in the trailer and the TV spots where I believed the public sentiment toward this movie was turning more positive.  I've seen that moment play in the theater and on TV with my mother, and both times I heard a soft "awwwww" in response.

 

Easily the best summer movie since District 9.   This movie does the amazing trick of both honoring the other films and improving on them by going its own direction.   Questions such as how are apes supposed to take over the earth and how can they do it with such a small population is addressed in a very elegant manner.   The way that needle is threaded is amazing.   I'd recommend that anyone who wants to go in clean should leave this thread pretty soon because there's some things in this movie that the filmmakers have been careful about leaving out of the trailers and it's too tempting to talk about them here.   Case in point, like I'm about to do.  From here, there be SPOILERS

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

This thread is going to get huge.....

Yes, the "NO" moment was so great to see with an audience.  Like you said, first silence, then lots of enthusiasm.  As far as how smart the apes were vs. humans, I think they were probably equal to the humans by the Golden Gate scene, or at least Caesar was.

 

This movie was like vindication for me.  As a huge APES nerd, I of course hated the Burton remake, and hated hearing people talk about how "stupid" the films were as a result of it.  (I'm talking everyday people, not film nerds.)  This film was everything a fan of the franchise could ever want in an update.  I know the comparison has been made before, but it is really similar to the STAR TREK reboot in that it payed respect to what came before, but did its own thing and did it well.  Except APES actually has a smart script (for the most part) to back it up.  And as a lifelong fan, I loved all the references to the old films (except maybe the "Madhouse" bit).  Really loved the Icarus reference, but the things that I really appreciated were things like "Bright Eyes" and "Cornelia."  All that nerdery aside, the film wouldn't work if it weren't for the performances, and they are uniformly great, human and ape alike, with Serkis and Lithgow being the obvious standouts.  I could keep on gushing, but I'll spare you all.  Can't wait to see this again.

 

I loved this. 

 

And that moment.  Holy shit.  The film had the kind of moments I've been longing for in summer movies.  This was a damned good film. 

 

Before the film started, my generously-populated audience made me worry.  Lots of young people being obnoxious and loud during all of the trailers.  My brother was seething at the girls behind him 'screaming' and giggling at the Paranormal Activity 3 trailer.  Guys behind me wouldn't shut up.

But when the film itself started, everyone gradually showed the proper etiquette.  And once the film started getting its hooks in, it played.  I think it loses a bit of its impact once the apes let fly, but it's still fun and engaging.  I appreciate the fact that they brought it back to a small moment between two characters after all of that. 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

The only Apes film I've seen is the original and the boring reboot.  I really want this series to succeed continue from here.  Poor asshole neighbor.  Hahahahaha

 

Serkis.  Maaaaaan.  He deserves to be showered with recognition.  His performance goes so far beyond the limitations of the technology (amazing as they are), it must be some kind of sorcery. 

 

It's awesome and hilarious just how much the film is on the side of the apes.  It is at its most vital whenever it focuses on them.  Most of the material involving the humans prevent this from being a really great film.  It's hilarious just how evil Brian Cox comes across

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

.  It also seemed like there was a beat missing that led to the 113 test ape to be particularly malicious towards Jacobs.  Deleted material perhaps? 

 

Seeing Tyler Labine was a nice surprise.  He doesn't get much to do, but I have a lot of goodwill towards him for Tucker & Dale.

 

I would take some friends and go see this again.  I hope the word-of-mouth on this is strong.

 

 

Speaking of 'missing beats'...

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

  Others have mentioned this elsewhere but this really plays like a prestige film made by Apes in the future about their first leader.   It has all the trappings of an Oscar bait biopic but it's about an ape instead of a human.

 

I'm going to say that by the end of the movie, Caesar, after inheriting the genes from his mother and getting a dose of the 113 is probably smarter than most every human.   The others are probably on a level with normal humans.  

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

So where does the series go from here?   I know it would be the third go around but I seriously wouldn't mind yet another remake of the original if the film makers have something interesting to say.   Maybe have the astronauts come back 30 years later instead of 3000?   It would be interesting to see what the apes are doing with all the left over tech by that time.   So many places to go with a sequel to this that we haven't seen before.

I keep thinking about this movie, and how much I enjoyed it, even though I wouldn't go as far as to call it "smart" like others. It definitely lacks the nuance of the earlier films, despite their somewhat clunky themes. But one thing that sticks with me is just how... weird the whole thing is. I can't explain it all too properly.

 

-Tom Felton's character brings his teenage (?) friends into the ape center for... what? To impress his friends? I thought his whole performance was a bit... unusual. Not sure how to explain it. Didn't seem like a real person. And the "No!" moment was totally ruined, I thought, but his completely obvious line before it. You know what I mean.

-While the direction is strong during those action moments, they really don't find a really good way to explain why they didn't shower those apes with bullets on the bridge. I bought it, but still... a little unusual.

-When they find Tyler Labine's body, I don't know how I noticed this, but the neighbor reacts in horror, and yet, I clearly heard a snippet of dialogue from the television. It's from an episode of "30 Rock." DID TINA FEY KILL HIM? Or, more specifically, DEAN WINTERS?

-This is one of those movies where the scientists aren't really doing anything specific that matters aside from their "research" and "development." My friends and I refer to this as "doing science." So I cracked up when there was such minimal effort to actually explain what this superdrug did, and whenever they were testing the apes, or synthesizing material, it was always just James Franco Doing Science. I mean, those years of Caesar growing up, I forget if it was five years or more, but... was he doing anything else? Developing any other research? What kind of advances or setbacks was he encountering over the course of those years?

-David Hewlett is a ham.

-I know there's a reasonable excuse for this location, but, as mentioned in other places on the internet, every Fox blockbuster has to feature extensive scenes set in what looks like the same Vancouver forest. If it's Fox, you know it's a forest. X-Men, Fantastic Four, The A-Team, Predators. They just love that goddamned forest. I wondered how much of the forest would figure into this movie and BAM it's the very first shot. You guys love forests, Fox.

Nick and I cover all this monkey business in our review:

 

http://www.chud.com/63202/tag-team-review-rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes/

 

and the weekly video....

 

http://www.chud.com/63197/new-chud-video-rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-change-up/

Tom Felton... hahahahaha.  It's a dude who clearly loathes his job... and loves it?  I can buy a guy like that bringing a few ladies to impress them.  It's his life.  What else is he gonna show them?  Kind of a sad character, regardless of what a dick he is.

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

Nakatomi Forest!!!

 

 

 

The taser moment was just great. You knew EXACTLY what would happen next, but still it's such a fuck yeah moment to see this miserable fuck finally roast himself. Which then is followed by mankind roasting itself.

 

But the big word before that is even better. That really got me by surprise. When Felton began saying that famous line, I leaned back and just wrote off another hommage (Icarus, Madhouse, Heston) - when Caesar's sudden and absolutely imposing answer killed me. That moment the whole theatre went drop dead silent. And did anyone expect that Felton would turn up AGAIN to get another ass-kicking, just like the multi-kill ending of MARKED FOR DEATH? He could have met Buck, the pissed-off gorilla. Later on: best gorilla in a helicopter scene ever.

I would have liked to see them having revenge on zookeeper Brian Cox. And on zookeeper Kevin James.

Do you guys think we'll see Franco in the sequel?

 

Yeah, I wondered about that too.

 

Wow. As someone who thought the trailers made the film look kind of lame, this was easily the nicest surprise of the summer. Pretty much everything clicked for me, with the sweeping score (by the great Patrick Doyle), direction (Wyatt shooting with an amazingly assured eye for composition as well as a great sense of pacing), and, of course, the jaw-dropping central performance from Andy Serkis. For a movie I was planning on skipping (until the stellar WoM kicked in), I am delighted to say that this was the most exhilarating film of the summer thus far.

And, along with the "No" sequence, I have to give a shout-out to Felton's fantastically quirky performance. I had a giant grin on my face during the "It's a madhouse!' proclamation. So gloriously hammy.

While those nitpicks are all valid, 1-3 are all a part of Franco's story. I don't care about the details of Franco's story. I care about Caesar's story.

This was kind of like a Grindhouse film in that the first two acts are good, but the third act makes it nearly a classic. Not to speak ill of the first two acts, it's just got a lot of business to get through that is handled well, and builds Caesar into a fully rounded character. But when it becomes about escape and evolution and etc. it becomes one of the best movies of the summer.

Edited by Damon Houx - 8/6/11 at 12:51am

I love that a mere sight of an chimpanzee closing a door has all the impact that an hour of expertly rendered robot mayhem lacks completely.  I mean, shit.

I think the marketing did this movie a tremendous disservice and a big favor at the same time.

 

I think it's always a bad idea to give away so much of your final act stuff in commercials and trailers. I know why they did it, but I think it may change expectations considerably. And knowing all the Ape vs. Man violence was pending changed the mood throughout. I felt for Caesar, but the entire time I knew how it was going to end.

 

But on the other hand, they did manage to hide what was the biggest shock of the movie,* which was made it all the more shocking (seeing as they gave everything else away for free). 

 

 

Just got back.

 

Hooooooly shit! Even with my expectations cautiously raised thanks to the good buzz, I never, ever expected a film of this quality. At a time when I've been getting downright scared that I've completely moved on from modern Hollywood blockbusters, along comes a film that reminds me I haven't at all, I just can't stomach the majority because they're bloody terrible.

 

This is how most US blockbusters used to be. Scripts that make sense! Characters you care about! Moments that actually feel earned! Special effects in service of character and story rather than the tail wagging the dog! 

 

From the opening moments of the film to the final mid-credits ending, I was completely and utterly emotionally invested in the film. Utterly lost in it, and it's been a very long time since that happened in a blockbuster for me. In fact this film is a god damn template on how to do a decent blockbuster.

 

This film being so good has been one of the biggest and most pleasant cinematic surprises I've had in years.

 

I ask again, why the hell can't we demand this kind of quality from all our mainstream filmic entertainment?

Yeah the movie is settling very well with me 24 hours later.   As Inception proved, there's a market out there for smart popcorn entertainment.   It's just hard to do.   Aside from X-Men First Class, this is the only movie this summer I feel compelled to watch again.  

Oh and am I the only person who got majorly choked up when Caesar first drew his window on the wall of his cage and rested his face against it? Jesus just thinking about it is putting a lump in my throat.

 

Fucking Serkis man.

The scene where Caesar is abandoned had me choked up.   AND when he got abandoned again.   I'm still amazed at how this movie feels like a Planet of the Apes movie from start to finish even moreso than the remake was.   Quite the accomplishment there.

Yeah I definitely want to see a direct sequel to this. I want more of Caesars story while humanity goes to shit.

Somehow, I saw the film twice in one day (if you count the midnight show I went to 'last night').

 

Mmm... that moment.  It just plays.  It's electric to hear the crowd's reaction to it.  And the film did not suffer from me seeing it again so soon. 

 

Truly amazing work. 

 

A small moment I don't think has been pointed out yet.  On the Golden Gate Bridge, Franco finally makes it to Caesar and calls for him.  That look on Caesar's face when he sees his former family; it just says so much.  He's still reveling in the aggression of leading a revolution, but he still has that look of shock and shame that comes from being caught doing something 'bad.'   He's pissed at Franco, but the connection is still there.  All in a second of performance.

God damn, this fucking movie.

 

Hits every single mark a summer blockbuster should, and a lot of the ones you never expect. Serkis should've gotten his Oscar 7 years ago. There's now no excuse. It's just a flat out brilliant performance that mines so much out of the subtleties. The constant back and forth when Caesar gets dropped off at the shelter between being furious at Franco, and being scared of where he is, and sadness that he's all alone is just an acting showcase of the highest order, and it's all there on that CG character. Franco took a lot of shit before the film came out, but I rather liked him here. All the humans held their own just fine, really. The moment nobody mentions that just crushed me: Lithgow turning down the new treatment.

 

But this is the apes' movie, and everything about the slow ascent of intelligence is stellar, expertly handled stuff. When it turns into an all out action movie later, every single ounce of that chaos is earned. I just love how the film managed to get mainstream audiences to instinctively accept that the apes will eventually conquer us, and yep, we fucking deserve it.  Never batted an eyelash.

 

And it's gonna keep coming up, and rightfully so: The line, and Caesar's response. Same reaction from my audience as everyone else. "Hahahahahahh--HOLY SHIT."

 

Congratulations, Summer 2011. Every single one of the films I had zero interest in at the start of the year turned out amazing.

Can I ask what the others were Justin?

Bridesmaids, Thor, First Class, and to a lesser extent, Captain America.

My one tiny nitpick: if these apes are so smart, how some they never learned to open windows?