The "Planet of the Apes" Franchise (2011 - present)

[StevePulaski]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt

Caesar the ape (Andy Serkis) in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Rating: ★★★

I, for one, was a bit surprised by how the often highly regarded Planet of the Apes film from 1968 left me cold and largely unmoved despite the acclaim it has gone on to so lovingly absorb. Having said that, I was a bit less surprised by the general lackluster sequels, save for the third film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, which had some of the series' best emotional plights and real humanity. The franchise, no matter which way you look at it, however, was headed in the direction of a full-blown, large-budget reboot. We've come a long way from gorilla suits and constrained flashiness in terms of things we demand in our blockbusters and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as it's known, gives us a Batman Begins-style reboot that succeeds before it has an opportunity to bloat itself too early.

Will Rodman (James Franco) is the human at the core of this film. A scientist at a San Francisco biochemistry lab, he's testing a new drug known as ALZ-112 on chimpanzees to find if it's a plausible and effective cure for Alzheimer's, which is currently crippling his father (John Lithgow). Will finds out in due time that the drug exponentially increases the intelligence of chimpanzees, until their lab-rat of sorts, a chimp named "Bright Eyes," goes berserk and gets shot and killed by a security guard.

Will winds up taking a test chimpanzee home one day, a baby he names Caesar (Andy Serkis) and cares for with the assistance of his newly recovered father and a primatologist named Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto). Caesar mentally develops at an alarming rate, communicating through sign-language and wide, expressive eyes that pierce the soul of both Will and the audience when he's apprehended by animal control after a local incident.

Unlike the potential path for an Apes reboot, screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver smartly let Caesar and his story remain at the forefront following all the first-act exposition. Even when we're forced to deal with the surprisingly bland screen-presence of Franco or the awkward in-between love-interest and plot-propeller character Pinto thanklessly plays, Caesar and his struggles never seem too far away from the story's focus.

The fact that Caesar is as interesting of a character as he is gives weight to the special quality actor Andy Serkis gives to motion-capture roles. As part of the motion-capture animation process, Serkis, who gave great dimension to Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was fitted with special suits that have glowing, motion-detecting orbs on them that will render the movements human-beings perform as the source for their respective, CGI-animated character's motions. Serkis' capabilities aren't so much seen in the weightless but occasionally fluid physicality that Caesar utilizes by swinging across tree-branches and such, but by communication through his eyes and facial expressions.

Moments akin to when Caesar gets taken away from Will and Carolina by way of a court order separate the film from just your average, high-budgeted excursion, and definitely lend more weight than most of the original, 1960s/1970s Apes franchise. While Rise of the Planet of the Apes borrows what seems to be tidbits and stray ideas from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth film in that respective series, it discards nearly everything that franchise was about: aimless, long-takes that served little purpose other than a pedestrian showcase of atmosphere, vapid character dialog, and so forth.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes both cleans up the flab and gives us promising themes of revolution and character development to assure some level of equilibrium in this franchise.

Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Dave Oyelowo, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Tyler Labine. Directed by: Rupert Wyatt.

[StevePulaski]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Directed by: Matt Reeves

Andy Serkis returns as the motion-capture source for Caesar the ape in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Rating: ★★½

I spent the first ten minutes of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and, guiltily, ten minutes before I even sat down to watch it, debating with myself the logic of starting a new franchise with the word "Rise" only to follow it up with a film with the word "Dawn." I worked my way into a "chicken and egg" quandary, admittedly having to stop and remind myself weeks before I geared up to watch both of these movies which came first chronologically, despite still being confused at which would come first realistically. I conclude that, while questionable, it does make sense from a revolution stand-point, a common theme of this new batch of Apes movies. One must "rise" and self/group-motivate in order to start a "dawn," or a new day, of social order.

Having moved on from that linguistical anomaly, I was pleased to find that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes really does stay committed to the groundwork laid by Rise of the Planet of the Apes in that it borrows ideas from the later sequels of the original series (this one borrows from Battle of the Planet of the Apes, the final film) but isn't afraid to give new ideas a try either. It's a film comfortably faceted in taking, but not settling on, inspiration as the fuel to kickstart a new generation of ape shenanigans for a new generation that craves higher budgets, bombastic climaxes, better special effects, and enhanced spectacle.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes gives fans what they want and gives the modern action junkie what they crave, but for the rest of us, who appreciated the direction and grace of Rise, Dawn unfortunately squanders a bit of its potential by discarding any kind of character development, solidifying this series' new common problem. The five original Apes movies, even the well-loved original, all had their own flaws, but the main issue came in the form of convoluted narratives or unrealized themes. Just like James Franco's underwritten Will and Freida Pinto's utterly useless Caroline characters from its predecessor, Dawn's characters might as well be faceless chess-pieces by the time the loud battle occurs at the conclusion of the film, exposing our lack of knowledge on the characters by showing us how empty we feel when they succumb to their inevitable fates.

The humans in the film are played by Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Jason Clarke, and the teenage Kodi Smit-McPhee, who stumble upon a colony of ape revolutionaries deep in the California woods following the outbreak of the deadly Simian Flu. Worldwide, population has plummeted, hospitals are overcrowded, and even quarantines can't contain the virus that was initially tested by Will Rodman in effort to curb the neurological effects of Alzheimer's on the elderly.

With humans facing extinction, apes have become the powerhouse in the world, or at least this little subsector. Led by Caesar (Andy Serkis), who left the care of Will and Caroline, who now has a son named Blue Eyes, the apes are faced with a new dilemma when this gaggle of humans stumble into their territory armed and in search of food. Through the compassion and care he experienced from his human caretakers, Caesar is more welcoming to the humans as opposed to Koba, a fellow ape with a deep-seated hatred and distrust for humans following genetic and drug experimentation. Koba believes the humans should be exiled or, better yet, killed, but both leaders come to a pact with one another and the masses to allow the humans access to their own segregated territory.

The humans, particularly Malcolm (Clarke) and Dreyfus (Oldman), hatch a plan to pursue a dam that they believe could harbor hydroelectricity in order to restore power to their local community. This requires an awful lot of time to plan - time they do not have as Koba gets more fickle with his support of Caesar's non-violent approach to dealing with the humans by the moment.

Since the human characters are such faceless creatures, it propels Caesar and Koba to be the most interesting souls on-screen, moving with total dimension and impeccable artistry with Serkis and Toby Kebbell, respectively, acting as the source of their movements through the same motion-capture process as was used in Rise. Serkis gave such great life to Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films that his presence and emoting eyes as Caesar have only grown more natural with time. Unlike the ugliness and unstill movements the animation produced in a film like Mars Needs Moms (which came out the same year as Rise), the motions present in Dawn are fluid, attractive, and refined.

Had the spectacle and pacing of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes been of that rare, sublime quality, then the human characters bearing the personalities of squirrels wouldn't have been such a deterrent. But Dawn's pacing is merely adequate, and by the last forty minutes, all is discarded for a very climactic finale that showcases the powerhouse effects (in some people's minds, what they "paid for"). Nothing is downright ugly or offensive, but it's unfortunate to see the characters and themes clubbed into submission once again by the oppressive nature of special effects.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes works best in moments, as there are several glimmers of comic relief or effective drama that elevate the film as a whole. The moment where Koba initially taunts a few Joes drinking whiskey is uproariously funny, as is the moment when the first sound upon electricity being briefly restored is the radio playing The Band's song "The Weight (Take a Load Off, Annie)." These moments keep Dawn interesting and punctuate it with a notion that the film doesn't take itself too seriously. Even as the screen is swarmed with screeching apes and evidence of where the $200 million budget was spent, it never feels overbearing, which is a testament to the grace the new franchise employs with every installment.

This is an occasionally fun and frequently attractive film. It tags all the basis in giving those that want a Planet of the Apes franchise to do more than survive in the 2010s. But the give-and-take relationship with the entirety of this series has been a bit ridiculous. Where the older films gave us themes and characters, albeit in an ordinarily flawed and unusual manner, the newer films give us the spectacle and entertainment we've come to expect while forgoing the necessity of human interest. We have yet to have one really good Planet of the Apes film and that's more bothersome, I feel, than four questionably necessary sequels.

Starring: Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Directed by: Matt Reeves.

[StevePulaski]

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Directed by: Matt Reeves

Caesar (Andy Serkis) navigates the icy tundra in War for the Planet of the Apes.

Rating: ★★★

As a child, I loathed the phrase "it is what it is." I thought of it as a cop-out answer or response grown-ups used when they couldn't think of something to say or didn't feel like saying a lot. In my line of work, I also think of it as lazy critical analysis that signifies a lack of word choice, or worse, capability to articulate a foreign thought. However, like the hack writer I am, I will fully admit that my reviews of every Planet of the Apes film (the five from the original franchise and the previous installments of the newer trilogy - the Tim Burton remake remains unseen by me at this time) up until this point have kind of been a six-paragraph expansion upon the phrase I've yet to use but always, quietly thought about the films - it is what it is.

These are films that have always strained to have more subtext than they were either willing to commit to or capable of adopting. The original films all had a bit of thematic heft but were handicapped in their screenplays or their general direction. The newer trilogy has largely been more impressive, of course technically, but also in terms of scope and emotional arcs. The only lacking point - which was really exemplified in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - is the human characters, who are all terribly underwritten and cold.

But War for the Planet of the Apes is the best Apes film of the past and present. More than entertaining, it's extremely well-made, with aesthetics that sometimes leap off the screen and brimful of memorable moments and gorgeous scenery. It conservatively makes us of its nine figure budget, which is still about $60 million less than Dawn, and makes it difficult (but never impossible) to not consider this a ceremonious finale that ties things together quite nicely.

It's about time too because the science-fiction plot of Planet of the Apes is too rich and substantial not to have a great film associated with its concept. War, once again, picks up on the perils and leadership of Caesar (Andy Serkis), who leads a clan against a military faction known as Alpha-Omega in the wake of Koba's death, the dissenting and violent ape from Dawn. The plan is for Caesar to move his army of apes across a desert without getting captured by Alpha-Omega, but once Caesar learns that the colonel who runs the organization (Woody Harrelson) has taken his family, the revolutionary inside Caesar explodes and his main goal now is the emancipation of other all the other apes held in captivity.

Caesar enlists in the help of his close friend Rocket (Terry Notary) and the elderly orangutan Maurice (Karin Konoval), but eventually gets more assistance from the likes of an unnamed orphan (Amiah Miller) and a simple, zoo-ape known as "Bad Ape" (Steve Zahn), who provides very mild and amiable comic relief. Together, through dire times, they see the inside of Alpha-Omega, which operates as an Auschwitz-like powerhouse that uses apes for slave labor before most of them succumb to death by starvation and dehydration in the icy tundra.

My main complaint with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was its lack of characterization in regards to its human characters despite making us spend so much time with them. War for the Planet of the Apes, in contrast, barely lets us see the interworkings of Alpha-Omega. Take that as you will, but I find it to be a surprisingly successful move, let alone a daring one. We can see all the horrors of the organization through heartbreaking sequences devoted to showing the torture of the apes, and we get most of the motivations explained in an admittedly overlong monologue by Woody Harrelson, who is otherwise great in his lean role. We don't need board-room meetings made up of machomen outlining the intricacies about why they feel it's just to treat an entire species like objects. It's an allegory of the current world we live in not-so-subtly pointing its finger at America's current administration. We get it.

And with that, the emotional plight of Caesar and his maturity become very vivid to us. If you've spent meaningful time with him over the course of this trilogy, you've seem him grow and develop into an unbelievably wise character, one who manifests himself into something on the same level as a living, breathing human being in this film. Not only a credit to the writing of Mark Bomback and director Matt Reeves, Caesar's impeccable humanity is large in part thanks to Andy Serkis, who has revolutionized and raised the bar on the emoting powers of motion-capture. His expressions are vibrant and detailed, and his soul is evident through every move, risky or routine, that his character makes.

The entire trilogy has been a testament to the brilliant and often uncredited or shortchanged work of the VFX and graphic designers, a great many of them still battling over credits and money as an industry as a whole. War for the Planet of the Apes is visually stunning moreso than the previous films. Perhaps it's the pearly white snow or vividly rendered landscapes, but Reeves' direction has never felt slicker and the contrasting colors of the scenic locations have never felt more vibrant. The fluidity is uncanny and a true showcase of the time we live in where special effects have reached an unbelievable point.

War for the Planet of the Apes is not without its own issues, but most of them are minor in the face of solid pacing, strong acting, and a very successful emotional plight. It's about fifteen minutes too long, for most of the scenes involving the torture of the apes feels like the same footage being repeated, if not needless. Consider the moment where, yet again, we need to see how brash and unfeeling Harrelson's Colonel is by him pressing the hollow chamber of a gun to Caesar's head demanding him to tell the apes to get back to work or suffer the consequences. Moments like this bloat what could've been a lean and entirely tense film into a more sporadically suspenseful film that loses gusto.

It was a bit surprising to me when I saw how poorly Transformers: The Last Knight performed at the box office. It's also a bit of a shock to see how quickly Cars 3 has faded from multiplexes too. Maybe audiences are craving new properties. Maybe Netflix and Amazon Prime have reached a point of unrivaled convenience for consumers. I can only hope in a time that brings so many consumers to unknowingly change the way Hollywood operates by choosing what to spend $100 million or $15 million on that they see War for the Planet of the Apes in efforts to shift the pendulum once again to make blockbuster season smart rather than safe.

NOTE: My review/discussion of War for the Planet of the Apes on my radio show Sleepless with Steve:

Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Amiah Miller, Terry Notary, Karin Konoval, and Steve Zahn. Directed by: Matt Reeves.