The 1968 science fiction classic Planet of the Apes thrilled audiences and gave bigger than life movie star Charlton Heston the immortal line “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” It also earned two Oscar nominations for Costume Design and Original Score, and spawned four sequels and a forgettable 2001 remake. 43 years later, the prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes hit the big screen. It’s now a spectacular new DVD release available at your Roanoke County Public Library.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes stands on its own as an exciting must-see sci-fi adventure. Beyond that, it chronicles the events that would ultimately lead to the future situation revealed in Planet of the Apes. James Franco stars as Will Rodman, a scientist putting all his efforts into a cure for Alzheimer’s disease that can save his afflicted father (John Lithgow). Experimental testing on chimpanzees leads to a drug that fights Alzheimer’s and boosts the chimps’ intelligence yet proves fatal to healthy humans. Rodman raises a chimp named Caesar (played by Andy Serkis in another amazing motion capture CGI performance) to adulthood and sets in motion the end of mankind’s world dominance.
The chimpanzees and other apes are the most realistic looking CGI creatures yet put on film. The emotional depth and facial expressions from Caesar in particular will grab your heart and have you rooting for his revolt against his human tormentors. All of the movie’s visuals are truly stunning and thanks to a solid script they drive the story rather than merely show off their technical virtuosity.
Fans of the ’68 classic will enjoy the many subtle nods to the original such as Caesar playing with a statue of liberty miniature and brief shots of a television and newspaper mentioning astronauts lost in space. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) playing a cruel ape center employee even utters Heston’s famous line. Regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the others, Rise of the Planet of the Apes provides crowd pleasing entertainment.
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