In the garden. In the Valley. Of the Jolly Green Giant. And other prepositional phrases.
I’m not an especially big fan of the Planet of the Apes franchise. I’ll grant the original with Chuck Heston was fairly good sci-fi with a solid Hitchcock ending. But nothing other than the ending really aged well. I saw the next two and part of the 4th when I was a kid. I thought they were kind of dumb then (but what did I know, I liked King Kong vs Godzilla). I thought Tim Burton’s take was silly. Timbo is a great one for visuals, but I’m thinking that his few actual successes have been more accidental than anything. He has released fine work but he also allowed Johnny Depp to be clowned by Gene Wilder. A director with a better eye for story would have easily dominated the old Chocolate Factory movie with a combination of Depp and modern special effects. But not Burton. His Planet of the Apes remake was the same as most of the times he’s fallen flat: it looked good but there was nothing there. Though in fairness, I ought to mention the actors portraying the apes were quite good but their dedication was just another wasted advantage.
So really, in my mind there isn’t a high bar for these movies.
The first thing to mention about the new entry is the special effects. They are amazing and understated. None of the apes are actual apes, they are a combination of animation and motion capture technology. WETA (SFX company used in Lord of the Rings and Avatar) has developed a way to use motion capture technology without a green screen. This is what allows the effects to be understated and fairly photo-realistic. So very early in the film you completely forget that the apes are animated because its simply not noticeable.
The next thing to mention is this is not a war between apes and people movie. That’s what the previews would suggest, but that’s not what the movie is about. If I were to describe it in terms of movies I’ve seen; I’d say it’s equal parts Harry and the Hendersons, Outbreak, and Escape from Alcatraz. The ape characters are highly sympathetic and you’ll find yourself rooting for them very quickly.
Caesar, the main character, is a chimpanzee whose mother took an experimental retro-virus designed to combat the effects of Alzheimer’s. He inherited the virus from her and an unforeseen side effect is the virus boosts brain cell creation. So Caesar has mental capacity that can potentially surpass a human. James Franco (only slightly less ludicrously cast as a scientist than Elisabeth Shue in The Saint) raises Caesar in his home and observes his progress safely until there is a misunderstanding with a neighbor and Caesar assaults said neighbor. This causes Caesar to be sent to an ape sanctuary pending a legal decision.
This is the first time Caesar has been exposed to normal apes and the experience is traumatic. And very creatively stimulating. He begins to ask himself some tough questions about the world and comes up with some very interesting solutions.
This is probably the best summer movie so far. I liked it better than anything Marvel put out and I’m 95% sure it’s better than Cowboys and Aliens. Still haven’t seen that one. Still liking that decision.
Don’t bother seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 3-D.
3-D is retarded.