Rise of the Planet of the Apes, starring James Franco and Freida Pinto

It's the monkey apocalypse! Or at least the beginnings of one in Rise of the Planets of the Apes. I'll be honest in saying I haven't watched the original 1968 Charlton Heston film since I was a child, and haven't had a particular fondness for any of them. The basic idea is still lodged in my brain, though. Super intelligent apes have taken over a planet...broken statue of liberty..."damn dirty ape"...and so forth. If you were a fan of those films, then you probably feel like another Planet of the Apes film is unnecessary. If you could care less, then chances are the whole idea probably still sounds a bit dated. Well you're both wrong. Not only is Rise of the Planet of the Apes the rare film that is zany, absurd, and intelligent in perfect combinaton, but also a reboot that freshens up the concept while maintaining the social commentary that made it unique.

I get the hesitation, though. Believe me I do. It hasn't been nearly long enough since Tim Burton's "look over substance" take on it back in 2001, and we've been slammed with too many lackluster remakes in general that seem to miss the point. Rupert Wyatt, a relatively unknown director who last helmed a decent thriller with The Escapist, has used the technology at his disposal to make what is already considered great even better.

One thing is clear, screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa have been boning up on their simian history, as the first hour of the film is almost a blow-by-blow recreation of the Nim Chimpsky experiment in the 1970s(check out the great documentary Project NIM). An infante ape named Caesar sees his mother ripped away from him when she's killed trying to protect him from a life of scientific experimentation. Caesar is taken into the care of well-meaning but short sighted scientist, Will Rodman(James Franco), who is frantically trying to put together a cure for Alzheimer's to save his father, Charles(John Lithgow).  His tests have shown remarkable promise, working not only Caesar but Charles as well. Caesar becomes a part of the family, bounding through the house happy as can be, learning to speak through sign language. But as with poor Nim, the flaws of his human companions would soon lead Caesar to a terrible fate.

Caesar gets older, bigger, and much less cuddly. When a neighbor takes out his frustrations on a rapidly deteriorating Charles, Caesar attacks with a ferocity reserved for his untamed brothers. Caesar is locked away in a crude, filthy prison alongside wild apes, and finds himself totally unprepared for their feral nature.

From here the film is seen almost totally from the perspective of Caesar, and it's a smart move to make because Andy Serkis is the definite star of this show.  If you thought he was great as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies, those didn't require him to feature the level of emotions he does here. An early scene where a curious and caring Caesar helps Charles to steady his fork is the film's most touching moment, and a very clear contrast to the radical leader he becomes only shortly after.

Abandoned by those he cares about, tortured by his surroundings and by the physical humiliations from his evil handlers, Caesar uses his unnatural wits to rally the other apes to his cause. Caesar in effect becomes the monkey mafia don. A circus orangutan becomes his consigliere, an isolated gorilla his chief enforcer, along with dozens of primate shock troops. Wyatt manages to make each of these creatures unique in their own way, and certain ones even have their own mini story arcs.

Some may grow weary of the slow build to the action, but for me it was the film's strongest aspect. I loved watching Rodman's single-minded determination to find a cure, even as the head of the pharmaceutical firm he works for chuckles with glee at the potential profits. Yeah he's sortof a one-note bad guy we're supposed to hate, but here it fits right in. The script plays Caesar's evolution perfectly, forcing us to sympathize with who is ostensibly the villain of the story.  Wyatt also peppers the story with plenty of homages, such as a quick but notable appearance by the Statue of Liberty.

I'll admit to being a lukewarm once the action really kicks off.  It works best the more batcrap insane it became, and you'll likely howl like I did as Caesar rides into battle on horseback like some civil war general. But the PG-13 ratings eventually becomes a factor, and the throwdown becomes repetitive. Franco is also largely removed from the action, which doesn't help.

Paying tribute without being owned by the previous films, Rise of the Planet of the Apes smartly charts it's own course by planting seeds to future sequels throughout. A lost space ship, an errant virus...I can't believe how much I care about what the next Planet of the Apes will bring.