‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ doesn’t monkey around

There’s one reason to experience Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the new franchise reboot from director Rupert Wyatt, and that’s the apes themselves. The CGI creations, overseen by Weta Digital, are marvelous and believable. In particular, the motion-capture performance of Andy Serkis as Caesar, the ape at the center of the story, proves once again that computer technology can surpass genuine human emotion.

Just like Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, A Christmas Carol, Polar Express and King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the future of cinematic technology. Forget those pesky homo sapiens, and let’s start talking pixels.

Disregarding pretty much every previous incarnation of the successful franchise, Wyatt’s film focuses on premise and set-up. In fact, the entire movie feels like the first part of a two-part package.

James Franco plays Will Rodman, a generic genetic engineer on the cusp of finding the cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, which not only would help the world, but also Rodman’s father, Charles (John Lithgow), who is quickly succumbing to memory loss. The one caveat is that Will needs to test his viral experiments on apes, who are genetic cousins to humans.

For some reason, the movie treats Will like a hero, even though he’s the one that pushes for ape experimentation. We’re made to feel for his trial-and-error studies, but, in fact, Will is the central instigator for all the problems that come later in the film.

After one experiment goes wrong and a particular ape causes a fracas during a big-wig meeting, the plug is pulled on Will’s research and the apes are all put down … except one. An infant ape is saved by the genetic engineer, becoming his pet-child and his means of continuing the experiments at home.

The ape, eventually named Caesar, grows up to be a part of the Rodman family, and Will’s cure begins to help his father’s quickly evaporating memory. All seems well and good; heck, Will even picks up a girlfriend (played by Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire) along the way.

But when the super-smart Caesar attacks a neighbor and is sent off to an ape holding facility, the feces begin to fly. Banding together with his fellow brothers (and sisters, I suppose), Caesar instigates an ape revolution. They are mad. They are tired of their mistreatment and imprisonment. They want out.

The movie’s big climax occurs on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, where the apes wreak havoc and the humans scream and run away.

The film is serviceable. The plot is nothing new, and the characters all feel one-dimensional. The human acting, except from Lithgow, is surprisingly wooden. Franco doesn’t convince the audience that he’s a successful genetic engineer; he looks like he just graduated from college. Brian Cox turns up as the evil warden of Caesar’s new home, but the character is never explored beyond scowls and stupid one-liners. Tom Felton, of the Harry Potter films, actually gets a lot of mileage out of his conniving portrayal of an angry zookeeper.

The true acting comes from Caesar himself, and if it were not for Serkis, the movie would fall apart. Typically, CGI can be the downfall of a film, but in the case of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it proves to be the saving grace.

Oddly, the screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, relies heavily on setting up the story and not too many fireworks. The real action doesn’t come until the final 15 minutes, and just when the audience thinks that a big battle is about to break out, the credits begin to roll. To say that the Rise of the Planet of the Apes is anti-climactic would be an understatement. There’s no real ending, and the film feels 30 minutes too short.

The apes seem to escape solely for one purpose: Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2. And as long as the humans aren’t invited back, I’m ready for a sequel.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes

• 2011

• Directed by Rupert Wyatt

• Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, suggested by a book by Pierre Boulle

• Starring James Franco, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton and Freida Pinto

• Running time: 105 minutes

• Rated PG-13 for violence, terror, some sexuality and brief strong language

• Rating:

• Click here to purchase Rise of the Planet of the Apes on DVD.