Life in a Day

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I can't say that I had been anticipating the release of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as I was expecting it to be just another American blockbuster. However, my curiosity was piqued when I started hearing positive reviews about the film (plus the fact that James Franco stars in it helps) and when I ended up seeing it last week, I was pleased to find that it surpassed my original expectations.

I haven’t seen the 1968 original Planet of the Apes, just the Tim Burton re-imagining which I was quite disappointed by. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a prequel to and reboot of the original series, managing to maintain the mythology of the series while improving some of the weaker elements and making it more believable. It’s the first Apes film to feature animated apes rather than having actors dressed in ape suits. WETA just seem to keep improving and impressing audiences with their visual effects. The effects were seamless, not stealing the audience’s attention (except to admire how good they were) and allowing the narrative to carry on rather than take away from it. Motion capture technology is a wonderful advancement for the film industry and Andy Serkis seems to have a great talent for portraying non-humans.

The fact that the apes didn’t try to take over the world in the film (which just doesn’t seem realistic) but rather become the dominant species due to the spread of a virus that is deadly to humans but which the apes are immune to. This seems a much more plausible cause to the downfall of the human race and the rise of the apes. This is not shown in the film, just implied by the final sequence and the credits.

I had not previously heard of the director Rupert Wyatt and Apes was only his 3rd feature. I was impressed by his work on this film and I hope that he continues to make successful films in the future. I was also pleased to note that the cinematographer was an Australian, Andrew Lesnie, whose work (such as DOP on the Lord of the Rings films) I have a great appreciation for. 

The film sets up for a sequel, which will probably turn into a series so let’s hope they deliver. Apes is more than the average Hollywood blockbuster, with an interesting storyline and the involvement of some truly talented people.