Very few movies push me to dust off my blog and actually put my thoughts to paper (or what you young whippersnappers now know as touchscreens), and not just keystrokes of a Facebook status update. This is one of them.
But in order to really truly appreciate the artistry of this movie, you’ll have to have seen this one:
Please ignore the three subsequent sequels. And this hot mess:
But anyway, going back to the re-imagining of the rise of the Planet of the Apes. From a technical execution, this movie was nearly flawless:
Pacing: Brisk and engaging. Unlike many prequels, this was the Goldilocks of the movie-making world – not too fast, not too slow. Enough to keep you engaged at all the key moments that really hammered down the story, but wasn’t afraid to propel you forward to the next one.
Set Design: Inspired. I think Director Rupert Wyatt has a great aesthetic – from the beautiful interiors of the GenSys offices, to the industrial/clinical feel of the labs, to the pseudo-fun and subsequent horrors of the holding pens. God is in the details and she was everywhere in this movie.
CGI: It’s hard not to applaud Weta’s execution in anything they do. But in this movie, they were very careful in the use of computer-generated actors, exactly opposite to the broad, sweeping CGI world that was Avatar or even King Kong. As always, Andy Serkis was mesmerizing as Caesar, an impressive feat considering he only had four words of dialogue in the entire movie.
Cinematography: That was some of the best camerawork I’ve seen all year. Both the tight shots and the panoramic vistas highlighted the movie’s rich palette. It wasn’t gimmicky, nor were there trick shots for the purpose of having trick shots. The cinematography complemented the story as it was being told.
Where this movie really wins is in the storytelling. And the one word that captures it all: restraint.
***SPOILER ALERT*** READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING (which, come on guys, this is a prequel. You know how it ends.)
The Rise of the Planet Apes reels you in on the premise of seeing modern medicine go awry. You know you’re going to see animal testing. You know it raises ethical questions. And you expect a sermon on the pulpit about how animal testing is baaaaad and how God will smite the homosexshals for getting married, blah blah blah (ok, maybe you weren’t expecting the last part).
What you get instead is a very timely storyline, without the soapbox and the pamphlets and brimstone and hellfire, but a nice little “oh by the way, this is how animal testing is done. It’s a bitch of a process, isn’t it?”. And that’s enough to get you emotionally invested in Caesar’s ragtag gang.
Director Rupert Wyatt, with amazing restraint, hammers down all the “whys” and “how-did-this-happens” of the original movie. From why they created the brain-boosting drug, to losing astronauts, to the spread of the disease that killed the humans and allowed the apes to rule the world and run late-night infomercials.
Save for some scenes where they clearly ignored the laws of Physics, this was a win-win-win all around. And let’s face it, since when did Hollywood really pay attention to natural laws? Case in point — all the impossibly high silicone breasts in most any chick- or dick-flick.
So in summary: amazing technical execution, a clean but rich visual palette, and phenomenal story.
My only gripe is James Franco.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
