Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes – (2011) Rated PG13, Violence and intense/frightening sequences 110 Minutes

The problem with kittens is they become cats. The problem with little adorable chimps is they become apes.

In this prequel to the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes, Will Rodman (James Franco) is working on a genetic cure to improve brain function. While he is working in a stereotypical money hungry and insensitive high-tech research company, we quickly discover his father (John Lithgow), is suffering from Alzheimer’s and may very well be the personal driving force behind his drive.

Will is testing his wonder drug on chimps. The drug is showing huge promise; one chimp in particular is showing vastly improved reasoning skills. As Will goes to the Board for approval to begin human trials, the chimp turns on its handlers resulting in mayhem and the order to destroy all the test subjects.

One adorable chimp was just born, and the handler (Tyler Labine) doesn’t have the heart to deal with this baby. Nor does Will, who takes the chimp home, with Daddy naming him Caesar. 

Caesar gets banged up a bit, and needs some stiches from vet and available love interest Caroline Aranha (former model Freida Pinto). At the same time, Daddy is slipping away, so Will gives him a little untested drug pick-me-up reversing the tragic effects of Alzheimer’s (I wish it were this easy) and, in fact, advancing Dad’s mental capacity.

Caroline, Will, Daddy, and Caesar all hang out together….going on day trips and spending time at the house. Frankly, this would have been far-fetched to me if I didn’t have a cousin who did much the same thing for years, and now does so on a commercial level.

It turns out Caesar’s momma had the drug pick-me-up, and passed the smart-gene to Caesar. As Caesar grows, he watches the neighborhood kids playing, and clearly wants to spend some time with them. Alas, one of the parents thinks a chimp hanging at his house isn’t cool, so Caesar spends most of his days locked in the house. When Daddy relapses and wrecks nasty-neighbor’s car, Caesar comes to the rescue as an ape would…ending up in the local primate lockdown (does Westborough have a primate lockdown?) 

Since Caesar’s mental capacity is advanced, he quickly rises to the top of the primate heap at the lockdown, and engineers a party where all the hangers on at primate lockdown start getting wise. 

Primate lockdown isn’t a great place to hang, so the whole crew takes the party on the road….making the humans freak.

Planet of the Apes was a unique movie back in the day…a new story, and a debatable civil rights activism. The 1968 version launched a franchise...where talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved. Similar to Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a prequel explaining how the apes are positioned to take over the world (and why the humans help reinforce the apes’ perspective.)

Overall, the 2011 film is one of those special effects victories where the audience gets emotionally attached via the chimp/ape humanity, much like people often get attached to kittens before they become...cats. The special effects/emotional connection is reminiscent of Avatar.

I found myself really enjoying the first two thirds of this film, enjoying Caesars character development and, well, humanity. The rest of the film is (spoiler alert) very predictable and trite, as the smart apes go head to head with the blundering law enforcement officials.

So overall, the movie is enjoyable and about what you would expect. This movie wins on special effects and story, not on a civil rights message so powerfully presented in 1968.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes gets a hesitant

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money

The Author

Gary Kelley has lived in Westborough since 1994. His reviews are what he would tell friends, and are not an academic analysis.