Rise of the Planet of the Apes (5 Stars)

I bought "War for the Planet of the Apes" for five Euros in the Black Friday sales, but rather than watch it immediately I've decided to watch the first two films of the trilogy first. If it is a trilogy. As I remember it, the third film had an open ending. At the time it was released I read that they hadn't yet decided whether to continue with the series. A year after the release they still don't know. They should make their mind up soon, while they still have momentum. They don't want to wait until Andy Serkis is 75.

This is a brilliant film, and it's an example of a remake that isn't a remake. If anything, it's a prequel to the equally brilliant 1968 film. I'm a denialist, as far as the third to fifth films of the original pentalogy are concerned. In the third film a temporal paradox was introduced to explain how the apes gained their intelligence, but it didn't explain how humans had degenerated. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" offers a better explanation for the apes' intelligence, and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" explains the humans' lack of intelligence. I'll get round to it when I watch it tomorrow.

A company called Gen-Sys is attempting to find a cure for Alzheimer's. They are testing drugs on chimpanzees, trying to boost their intelligence, with moderate success. By accident a pregnant chimpanzee is injected, and her son has intelligence that exceeds even the intelligence of young human babies. The scientist Will Rodman defies an order to kill all the apes at Gen-Sys when the research is considered a failure. He takes the baby chimpanzee home with him and raises him as a child, calling him Caesar.

Caesar's name is appropriate. He's not just highly intelligent, he's a talented military strategist. After eight years living with Dr. Rodman he attacks a neighbour to protect one of his human friends. This leads to him being put into an animal pound. Dr. Rodman bribes the pound's owner to release him, but Caesar refuses to leave. After witnessing the suffering of the other apes he wants to free them all, and he becomes their leader.

The acting is excellent throughout. I only vaguely understand the technology used for Andy Serkis to play the part of Caesar, but it's nothing short of miraculous. This is a film that deserves to be watched over and over again.

Success Rate:  + 3.2

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