Rise of the Planet of the Apes

  Since I have never seen for the original run of Apes movies, I only have the clips I've seen of Charlton Heston hanging upside down in a rope snare issuing his famous warning.  Oh, and I've also seen the 2001 Tim Burton remake of the original that stars Mark Wahlberg as the spaceman, but I think hardcore fans of the franchise would rather if that one were not mentioned.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the seventh movie in this franchise and, if you exclude the 2001 remake, the first since 1973.  It tells the story of how genetically-altered apes rebel against the humans who hold them captive in zoos, laboratories, etc.  The film's timeline presumably takes place prior to the narrative of the 1968 film, and focuses on how a highly-intelligent, genetically-modified ape named Caesar ascends to alpha status and leads a rebellion.  James Franco, who I didn't really like in this film, plays scientist Will Rodman who works for a company that is on the leading edge of developing cures for human diseases, primarily Alzheimer's.  We are introduced to a chimpanzee named Bright Eyes, who is undergoing gene therapy treatments by Rodman to see if the Alzheimer cure is viable.  The test has drastic side-effects that cause the chimp to develop extreme levels of intelligence.  At one point, Bright Eyes believes that her baby is being threatened by lab technicians and breaks out of her cage and runs rampant through the laboratories, effectively cutting off funding on the project.  After her death, we find out that she passed her intelligent genes onto her newborn offspring.  Rather than see the baby chimp be euthanized, Rodman takes Caesar in and raises him in secrecy for years.
   Eight years later, Caesar is a full-grown, incredibly intelligent chimpanzee who lives in Rodman's attic, constantly looking out his window with curiosity and fascination of what the outside world is all about.  This is where the movie really hits its stride.  Caesar, with sign-language, asks his "dad" who he is and why he looks so different from him.  He also wonders if he is a pet, like any other dog on a leash.  At this point, the motion-capture performance of Andy Serkis needs to be lauded.  Serkis plays Caesar with impressive emotional range.  It is fascinating to see how Caesar is brought to life with a real actor making real movements and real facial nuances.  Like in King Kong and Lord of the Rings, Serkis dons his high-tech suit of colorful spheres and fluorescent receptors and puts on a remarkable show.  But the camera technology has come along far enough since a film like Avatar that they can now put the actor in the actual scene with the other actors, whereas before they were in a studio in front of a green screen.  I've heard that Serkis deserves award recognition for his performance and I can not disagree.  I don't think that he should merely be recognized in a special effects category, I think his performance is worthy of being lumped in with the other "real" performances of the year.  Serkis has the talent to show the tiniest facial movements that we all know to convey emotions of frustration, curiosity, envy, rage, glee, and every gray area in between.  Caesar's face is reason enough to see this film. 
   In an attempt to protect Rodman's father from what he perceives is a dangerous situation, Caesar attacks a man and is soon placed in the custody of the state.  As you can imagine from the title of the film (and the trailer), Caesar is the leader of a group of oppressed apes who begin to fight back, not to necessarily punish or hurt the humans (although this happens in at least two memorable moments) who imprisoned them, but rather to seek freedom from life in a cage.  Caesar notices that his fellow cage-mates are not as smart as he is, and is discouraged by their primal instincts and basic desires.  He acquires enough of the gene-altering formula to treat all of the other apes around him and soon discovers that the rebellion is ready to begin.  There is an amazing set of action sequences on the Golden Gate Bridge that is visually spectacular.
  There are obvious metaphors between the oppression of the apes and the oppression that many groups of humans have gone through in history.  We have a knack for destroying ourselves.    
  This movie wouldn't be as great as it is without the captivating performance of Andy Serkis.  He brings the main character to life and gives him a high level of believability and earnestness.
  Leading up to this week, I have heard and read a lot of great things about this movie, which is one that I wouldn't ordinarily see in a million years.  I decided to give it a shot and must say that I was on board the whole time and look forward to the next film in the series.