Rise of the Planet of the Apes

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Just got back from seeing it and it FAR exceeded my expectations. Maybe one or two of the FX shots were questionable, but the vast majority of them were amazingly well done. Some of them rank up there with the most convincing I've ever seen. Definitely not the big action movie they are teasing in the commercials, but rather a nicely done sci-fi drama that sets up the original film in a wonderful way.

Based on the trailers and commercials I had seen, my excitement for this film was very low and I had a list of probably four or five complaints/criticisms that I was skeptical about going in. One of the enjoyable things about the experience of watching this film was seeing all of those things dealt with, and in the right way. There were also a nice handful of great moments, including one where someone in the crowd said "Awesome!" out loud and the rest of us sat up straight in our seats as we realized that this really was a Planet of the Apes movie in the best way. All of my nitpicks turned out to be simply taken out of context as I filled in the blanks of the plot after seeing the trailer. It turns out that a fairly intelligent filmmaker anticipated all of those issues and handled them properly, producing an entertaining film.

I really loved Caesar and found myself rooting for the apes. Instead of presenting a questionable scenario where a massive army of apes rises up and takes control of San Francisco, the film delivers a somewhat different situation--one that is more plausible given the context of the film, and one that makes sense and nicely sets the stage for the established POTA universe. Every reason I had for thinking this wouldn't be a good film ended up being dead wrong--this was well worth seeing and I can't remember the last time I've been so wrong about a movie going in.
 
The most wonderful (and disturbing at the same time) thing about the film was how it showed:

...the apes becoming more "humane" than the humans. I was moved by the moments when Caesar would call off the attack and keep his fellow apes from killing several of the humans. In the end, the apes didn't want to take over society--they wanted to escape it. And so I found myself rooting for them. He found his true home amongst his own kind, and left humanity to deal with the inevitable results of their attempts to play God. In the end, the apes didn't conquer the world, they simply stood aside and inherited it after we destroyed ourselves. And that brings the whole thing back to the point of the original, and delivers a moral to the story like only the best sci-fi does.

The ads have shown a film about apes taking over--but it's much more a story of apes getting smart enough to just leave the humans alone and get to safety while we destroy ourselves. They just need to sit it out and move in once we have killed ourselves off. And the way Caesar spared the life of the other caretaker at the animal facility while escorting him to his cage really foreshadowed the relationship between apes and humans seen in the original. The apes in this film had a level of compassion and mercy that the humans didn't, and so as a viewer you are perfectly happy with them inheriting the earth from us.
 
SRS said:
How much money did it make on Friday?
Click to expand...

They are estimating 19.75 million on Friday. I hope that good word of mouth helps it through the weekend (and next few weeks). It was definitely better than I was expecting and I think a lot of other people feel that way. I would encourage people on the fence to go check it out, and there haven't been a ton of movies lately where I would be confident saying that.
 
I loved it, and Serkis did an amazing job as Ceasar. I too found myself rooting for Apes, and I hope to see a sequel. I've always found something questionable about Planet of the Apes, however? A franchise based on the concept of Apes evolving seems pretty keen on the concept of evolution. With that being said, wouldn't the apes eventually evolve back into humans?

Also, does anyone else think they may try to spin-off other classic franchises?

The headline reading "Mission to Mars:LOST IN SPACE" or is that in reference to the Astronauts from the original/Burton reboot film
 
tomandshell said:
The most wonderful (and disturbing at the same time) thing about the film was how it showed:

...the apes becoming more "humane" than the humans. I was moved by the moments when Caesar would call off the attack and keep his fellow apes from killing several of the humans. In the end, the apes didn't want to take over society--they wanted to escape it. And so I found myself rooting for them. He found his true home amongst his own kind, and left humanity to deal with the inevitable results of their attempts to play God. In the end, the apes didn't conquer the world, they simply stood aside and inherited it after we destroyed ourselves. And that brings the whole thing back to the point of the original, and delivers a moral to the story like only the best sci-fi does.

The ads have shown a film about apes taking over--but it's much more a story of apes getting smart enough to just leave the humans alone and get to safety while we destroy ourselves. They just need to sit it out and move in once we have killed ourselves off. And the way Caesar spared the life of the other caretaker at the animal facility while escorting him to his cage really foreshadowed the relationship between apes and humans seen in the original. The apes in this film had a level of compassion and mercy that the humans didn't, and so as a viewer you are perfectly happy with them inheriting the earth from us.
Click to expand...

interesting, I actually want to see this movie now. I'm shocked.
 
tomandshell said:
Just got back from seeing it and it FAR exceeded my expectations. Maybe one or two of the FX shots were questionable, but the vast majority of them were amazingly well done. Some of them rank up there with the most convincing I've ever seen. Definitely not the big action movie they are teasing in the commercials, but rather a nicely done sci-fi drama that sets up the original film in a wonderful way.

Based on the trailers and commercials I had seen, my excitement for this film was very low and I had a list of probably four or five complaints/criticisms that I was skeptical about going in. One of the enjoyable things about the experience of watching this film was seeing all of those things dealt with, and in the right way. There were also a nice handful of great moments, including one where someone in the crowd said "Awesome!" out loud and the rest of us sat up straight in our seats as we realized that this really was a Planet of the Apes movie in the best way. All of my nitpicks turned out to be simply taken out of context as I filled in the blanks of the plot after seeing the trailer. It turns out that a fairly intelligent filmmaker anticipated all of those issues and handled them properly, producing an entertaining film.

I really loved Caesar and found myself rooting for the apes. Instead of presenting a questionable scenario where a massive army of apes rises up and takes control of San Francisco, the film delivers a somewhat different situation--one that is more plausible given the context of the film, and one that makes sense and nicely sets the stage for the established POTA universe. Every reason I had for thinking this wouldn't be a good film ended up being dead wrong--this was well worth seeing and I can't remember the last time I've been so wrong about a movie going in.
Click to expand...

tomandshell said:
The most wonderful (and disturbing at the same time) thing about the film was how it showed:

...the apes becoming more "humane" than the humans. I was moved by the moments when Caesar would call off the attack and keep his fellow apes from killing several of the humans. In the end, the apes didn't want to take over society--they wanted to escape it. And so I found myself rooting for them. He found his true home amongst his own kind, and left humanity to deal with the inevitable results of their attempts to play God. In the end, the apes didn't conquer the world, they simply stood aside and inherited it after we destroyed ourselves. And that brings the whole thing back to the point of the original, and delivers a moral to the story like only the best sci-fi does.

The ads have shown a film about apes taking over--but it's much more a story of apes getting smart enough to just leave the humans alone and get to safety while we destroy ourselves. They just need to sit it out and move in once we have killed ourselves off. And the way Caesar spared the life of the other caretaker at the animal facility while escorting him to his cage really foreshadowed the relationship between apes and humans seen in the original. The apes in this film had a level of compassion and mercy that the humans didn't, and so as a viewer you are perfectly happy with them inheriting the earth from us.
Click to expand...

Great review Tom....you've actually convinced me to see it again!
 
This film wasn't even on my radar going into the summer. But with the good reviews I had to go and must say I was very pleasantly surprised. Tom iterated a lot of my feelings about it - but I have to add that the mocap performances were really great. Perhaps it's just that Franco isn't a strong actor, but I found Caesar a much more believable character with a stronger performance than a genius geneticist embodied by Franco.

Also the sequence showing Caesar growing up was brilliantly done - one of the best pieces of film storytelling I've seen in a while.

Also with the little plot foreshadowing and the credit sequence I love how they actually planned this out as a trilogy (or more) of films.
 
Just got back from seeing it and it was everything I was hoping for!!! I had really built myself up for this after seeing the first trailers, and I was afraid I was going to be disappointed, but it was even better than I imagined!! Can't wait to see a sequel!!! A truly inspired retake on the Apes saga!!!
 
batfan08 said:
I also believe that John Lithgow did an exceptional job in his role.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Just one thing though.

I wasn't sure if he died or if Franco set him to a home. It didn't really make it clear. The very next scene has Rodman (Franco) packing up the things in the room.
 

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