Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Apes Smart, Humans Stupid

Rupert Wyatt directed this entry to the Planet of the Apes saga. This is a prequel to the original Charlton Heston vehicle. By now we all know that the titular planet is earth where the ape is king and man is an inferior creature.

Here we learn how these apes came to rule earth. Will (James Franco) is a scientist who is working on a drug to cure Alzheimer’s disease. His motivation is because his father (John Lithgow) suffers from the disease. Will’s research causes many tragedies for the apes on which he experiments, but also leads to the birth of Caesar (a full motion capture Andy Serkis). Circumstances cause Will to take Caesar home where he lives with his father. Caesar quickly shows that he is much more intelligent than a normal ape.

From this point the story becomes less about science and disease and more about Caesar. As he grows older he becomes more brooding and sad. A series of events cause Caesar to be left at an ape sanctuary run by a cruel father and son (Brian Cox and Tom Felton respectively).

Caesar’s rage at humans and what they’ve done to him comes to full force at the sanctuary. Several events lead to an ape revolt that will eventually take our planet to where it was when Mr. Heston crash landed.

The amazing thing about this film is that the star is Caesar. Andy Serkis turns in an excellent motion capture performance. Suspension of disbelief that Caesar was a computer creation was very easy despite some shaky movement at the beginning of the film. James Franco and Freida Pinto are believable as supporting players. The excellent John Lithgow is amazing as always in the role of Will’s father. The major achievement of the film is that it gives us a serious, sympathetic character that is completely computer created and actually makes us side with apes over humans.

***1/2 – Three and a half stars

Trailer

Director – Rupert Wyatt

127 Hours – Man vs Nature and Himself

Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours is the story of Aron Ralson (James Franco), the hiker/climber, who got his arm caught between a large boulder and the wall of a tight canyon in Utah. I figured that at best this would end up being something in the vein of Cast Away.

Luckily I was very wrong. The script is taut and makes full use of the 94 minute running time. The introduction to Ralston shows a very brash young man. He ignores phone calls from relatives. He even goes out climbing without notifying anyone of his destination. We also see that he’s very vane as he’s constantly taking videos and photographs of himself. When he meets two young ladies out on the hiking trail he shows them a good time, but seems much more concerned with moving on with his solo adventure. He even gives a hesitant response to their invitation to a party.

The introduction sets him up well and shows us that he is an adventurous yet careless person. He makes very little time for anyone else and seems more concerned himself. At one point we even learn that he’s involved in rescuing missing people on trails much like the one on which he’s stuck which shows how careless he truly is to not let anyone know his whereabouts.

The tension is displayed perfectly as the incident first happens and Ralston attempts to pull himself free. He goes through a gamut of emotions while coming up with ways to free himself. He also has a camcorder into which he gives a narration of what happened and what is happening (presuming someone finds the camera).

James Franco does a fantastic job carrying the film and makes the stubborn character of Aron Ralston into a very believable if at times insufferable person. The final gruesome conclusion is hard to watch, realistic and a relief all at once.

**** Four Stars

Trailer

Director – Danny Boyle