Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist, Get The Picture) has to be one of the bravest directors in the world at the moment. If re-making a film like Planet Of The Apes caused a stir a few years ago than you can only wonder what would be done about Wyatt’s new film Rise Of The Planet OF The Films going back a creating a history for the original. But thanks to a great script and some terrific CG work this is one prequel that should win over fans and also do justice to the cinema masterpiece that preceded it.
Will Rodman (James Franco – The Broken Tower, Your Highness) is a young scientist who is desperate to create a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease because he can see the terrible affect the disease is having on his own father, Charles (John Lithgow – Leap Year, TV’S How I Met Your Mother). Unlike his boss, Steven (David Oyelowo – The Help, TV’S Glenn Martin DDS) though Charles cares for the chimps that his drugs are tested on, he cares for them so much that when a stuff up occurs and Steven calls for them to be killed Will takes home Caesar, a young chimp. As Will, Charles and Will’s partner, Caroline (Freida Pinto – Miral, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Handsome Stranger) bring him up Caesar becomes part of their family, however following an incident the court orders that Caesar be sent to a ‘Chimp-Pound’ run by John Landon (Brian Cox – The Veteran, The Key Man) and his extremely cruel son, Dodge (Tom Felton – Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, 13HRS). Here Caesar sees a totally different side to human nature.
Wyatt’s risk at being at the helm of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes pays off sensationally well because it means that he is responsible of one of the best films of 2011. This is a truly amazing film that shows just how far CG has come over the years. The CG apes look so realistic that it is almost unbelievable. Backed up by an amazing script that gives the chimps real characterization the Apes win over the audience so much that you can’t help but cringe when they are being treated cruelly and yes, you may even have a little cheer when they finally decide to fight back.
To his credit Wyatt brilliantly directs a movie that would be most director’s nightmare, I would go as far to say that his work here far succeeds the work that James Cameron did on Avatar. The filmmakers even had the sense to hold back on the ‘big battle’ scene. They did exactly what needed to be done to make the film seem believable… if the battle had been any bigger than the film would have branched well and truly into the sci-fi genre and the powerful anti-animal cruelty message would have been lost.
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes also sees James Franco win back some of his credibility after the truly awful Your Highness while John Lithgow once again gets to remind audiences that
there is more to him than just comedy. However the big winner in the acting stakes here is Tom Felton. Known for playing Draco in the Harry Potter series Felton once again moves into the ‘bad-guy’ role but this time around is given a meatier role that shows that he actually has genuine talent… could he be the actor from the Harry Potter series that has the brightest future ahead of him? Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes certainly suggests that he has.
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is one of the surprise hits of 2011. This terrific film outclasses many of the other big blockbusters and despite what many may fear actually does justice to the original. A brilliant film that I can’t recommend highly enough.
Year: 2011
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Stars: Brian Cox, David Oyelowo, Freida Pinto, James Franco, John Lithgow, Tom Felton
Classification: M
Runtime: 105 mins
Rating:
Available on DVD from 7th December, 2011