Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Promotional poster
Directed by	Rupert Wyatt
Written by	Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver
Produced by	Peter Chernin Dylan Clark Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver
Starring	James Franco Freida Pinto John Lithgow Brian Cox Tom Felton Andy Serkis
Cinematography	Andrew Lesnie
Edited by	Conrad Buff Mark Goldblatt
Music by	Patrick Doyle
Production company	Chernin Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	August 5, 2011 (2011-08-05)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$93 million
Box office	$305,974,018

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt. The film stars James Franco and Andy Serkis. It is a reboot of the Planet of the Apes series. It is intended to act as a foundation with its own origin story for a new film series. Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but it is not a direct remake in that it does not fit into that series' continuity. It was released in the United States, Canada and India on August 5, 2011.

Plot

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a San Francisco scientist at pharmaceutical company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease by testing a genetically engineered retrovirus on chimpanzees. The virus mutates the chimpanzees, giving them a human level of intelligence. The most successful subject, a female chimpanzee named Bright Eyes (Terry Notary) due to the formula turning her eyes green, goes on a rampage because she believes her baby, to whom she secretly gave birth, is threatened. She is killed disrupting a board meeting where Will is presenting the cure. Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) orders subordinate Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to put all the test chimpanzees down. Franklin cannot bring himself to kill the baby chimp and instead gives him to Will. His father names him Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Will raises him in his house. Caesar has inherited his mother's high intelligence and learns and develops quickly. As he outgrows his surroundings and disturbs neighbor Hunsiker (David Hewlett), who wounds him, Will frequently takes him to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, but his intelligence begins to sour his status as a human "pet".

Three years later, a desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father, Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. At first, his father improves but, five years later, his body's immune system fights off the virus and his dementia returns. A confused Charles attempts to drive Hunsiker's car and damages it. As he threatens Charles and pushes him to the ground, the onlooking Caesar attacks him, biting his finger. Caesar is forcibly removed from Will's house and held in the San Bruno Primate Sanctuary run by John Landon (Brian Cox). The apes are treated cruelly by Landon's son Dodge (Tom Felton) who works as a guard there. Caesar himself is likewise treated poorly by the other apes. Caesar meets Maurice (Karin Konoval), a circus orangutan who knows sign language and communicates with Caesar. He tells him humans do not like smart apes. When Caesar is in the play exhibit, he is chased and bullyed by Rocket (also Terry Notary), the dominate ape at the sanctuary. Rocket chases Caesar up the plastic tree and later is tranqulized along with Caesar. When Dodge brings unathorized vistitors into the facility, one of them gets too close to Caesar's cage and is grabbed by Caesar who steals a pocket knife and uses it to unlock and escape his cell. Caesar then frees a gorilla kept in solitary confinement named Buck (Richard Ridings) and, with his grateful assistance, gains dominance over the other apes.

Meanwhile, Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, as the disease has adapted to get past the formula, he tells Jacobs that his father improved, and an excited Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees. Results from treating a bonobo named Koba (Christopher Gordon) reveals that it strengthens the intelligence of the apes even further. However, unbeknownst to the scientists, it is fatal to humans. Franklin is exposed to the new virus when he is unable to get his mask on in time when Koba is being given the formula in gas form, and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at this home, he accidentally sneezes on Hunsiker. Franklin is later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing, but when Jacobs refuses, Will quits his job.

Will nearly gets Caesar out of the facility after paying Landon, but Caesar refuses to leave his cage. Caesar escapes from the primate facility and travels to Will's house where he steals canisters of the new virus in gas form and releases it throughout the cage area, enhancing the intelligence of his fellow apes. When Dodge attempts to intervene, Caesar beats him down and shocks both him and the other apes by shouting "No!". He electrocutes him by spraying him with a hose as Dodge holds his stun stick. The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys as well as the entire primate population of the San Francisco Zoo. Jacobs enters the facility and finds it deserted with apes inside, so runs away.

The apes then force their way past a police blockade of the Golden Gate Bridge, utilizing its thick mist as a visual shield. Jacobs arrives in a helicopter from which a sniper begins gunning down apes, specifically targeting Caesar at Jacobs' behest. Buck sacrifices himself by leaping onto the helicopter which crashes onto the bridge and kills everyone inside except Jacobs. He begs for help, but his helicopter is pushed down into the bay below by Koba. The apes escape into the redwood forest. Will arrives in a stolen police car and is attacked by Koba, but Caesar stops him. Will warns Caesar that in the forest humans will hunt them down, but that he can protect him if he returns home. Caesar, now capable of speech, gently tells him that "Caesar is home" as he is now with his fellow apes.

During the film a mission to Mars is mentioned, but later it is revealed that it has been lost.

In the post-credit sequence, Hunsiker, an airline pilot, arrives at work sneezing blood. The scene zooms onto a filled flight-status display board, then fades into a stylized flight map animated with blooming trajectories throughout the world.

Cast

• James Franco as Will Rodman: A scientist who is trying to cure Alzheimer's disease by testing it on chimpanzees. He raises Caesar and grows a strong bond with him.
• Andy Serkis as Caesar: A chimpanzee who leads his fellow apes in a revolution against the humans.
• John Lithgow as Charles Rodman
• Freida Pinto as Caroline Aranha
• Tom Felton as Dodge Landon
• David Oyelowo as Steven Jacobs
• Brian Cox as John Landon
• Tyler Labine as Robert Franklin
• David Hewlett as Hunsiker
• Jamie Harris as Rodney
• Richard Ridings as Buck
• Christopher Gordon as Koba
• Karin Konoval as Maurice
• Terry Notary as Rocket / Bright Eyes

James Franco was cast after talks with Tobey Maguire broke down.

Production

In a segment of a video blog post, director Rupert Wyatt commented on the originality of the plot: "This is part of the mythology and it should be seen as that. It's not a continuation of the other films; it's an original story. It does satisfy the people who enjoy those films. The point of this film is to achieve that and to bring that fan base into this film exactly like Batman Begins."

In an interview in 2009, Wyatt said, "We've incorporated elements from [Conquest], in terms of how the apes begin to revolt, but this is primarily a prequel to the 1968 film.... Caesar is a revolutionary figure who will be talked about by his fellow apes for centuries.... This is just the first step in the evolution of the apes, and there's a lot more stories to tell after this. I imagine the next film will be about the all-out war between the apes and humans."

Filming began in July 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Filming also headed to San Francisco, California, and around Oahu, Hawaii.

Visual effects

Unlike all prior entries in the Apes franchise (which used actors in make-up), the apes were created digitally by Weta Digital using performance capture technology. New advances in the technology allowed the use of performance capture in an exterior environment, affording the film-makers the freedom to shoot much of the film on location with multiple performers, as opposed to the confines of a performance capture soundstage.

Script

The screenplay contains several tributes to specific scenes, characters, and cast & crew from the previous Apes film series:

Music

The score for the film was composed by Patrick Doyle and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony.

Sequels

Regarding the story setting up possible sequels, Wyatt commented: "I think we’re ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning." Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that Rise of the Planet of the Apes would feature several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we’re building a platform for future films. We’re trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth." According to Rick Jaffa, a version of the spaceship from the 1968 Planet of the Apes is featured under the name Icarus in the film as a hint to a possible sequel.

Reception

Critical response

Reviews for Rise of the Planet of the Apes have been positive, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting an 83% "Certified Fresh" rating, and an average rating of 7.2/10, based on 201 reviews. The site's summarized consensus is: "Led by Rupert Wyatt's stylish direction, some impressive special effects, and a mesmerizing performance by Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes breathes unlikely new life into a long-running franchise." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, reports a score of 68 based on 38 reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised the role of Caesar and Andy Serkis by stating it was a "wonderfully executed character " and "One never knows exactly where the human ends and the effects begin, but Serkis and/or Caesar gives the best performance in the movie."

Box office

Rise of the Planet of the Apes made its debut in the United States and Canada on roughly 5,400 screens within 3,648 theaters. It grossed $19,534,699 on opening day and $54,806,191 in its entire opening weekend, making it No. 1 for that weekend as well as the fourth highest-grossing August opening ever. The film held on to the No. 1 spot in its second weekend, dropping 49.2%, and grossing $27,832,307.

As of August 28, 2011 the film has grossed $148,674,018 in the United States and Canada and an additional $157,300,000 in foreign territories, bringing its worldwide gross to a current total of $305,974,018.

External links

• Official website
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at IMDb
• Template:Allmovie title
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at Rotten Tomatoes
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at Box Office Mojo
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at the Planet of the Apes Wiki