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This will be the first time I cover each installment in a certain franchise consecutively. The subject of this series will be the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy, which started with Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
The story follows scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) attempting to find a cure for Alzheimer's, as his father Charles (John Lithgow) suffers from it. The company he works for is conducting tests on chimps. While their drug does lead to increased intelligence, one chimp in particular named Bright Eyes goes crazy during a presentation of the drug. It is later discovered that she was trying to protect her newborn baby, who Will brings home and raises. The chimp, named Caesar, has inherited his mother's intellect, which ultimately becomes an advantage after an unfortunate incident lands him in a shelter with other apes. However, in seeing the cruelty they have suffered, he decides to lead a rebellion against humanity.
What Worked: While I usually cover the cast first, I will save the best for last in regards to that. Ironically, the humans have more well known actors on their side than the apes do, despite the movie focusing on them. Even though Caesar is the character to get invested in both on the apes’ side and throughout the movie, there has to be a balance, and Will provides it. He not only wants to cure his father and everyone else afflicted with Alzheimer’s, but he also knows the potential consequences of what he’s doing, and does what he can to help Caesar in addition to his father. He becomes very sympathetic, and shows that he’s a good man with good intentions. Through his performance, James Franco conveys all of that and even great chemistry between Will and Caesar. John Lithgow is also really good as Charles, although he’s not in the movie that much.
Another sympathetic character aside from Will and Caesar is Caroline, played by Freida Pinto. There are two characters here who address the consequences with Will; she's the good one, in that she is compassionate in doing so while also questioning the ethical side of what he's doing, particularly concerning Caesar. Much like James Franco, it shows in her performance.
Whereas Caroline is the good character who addresses the consequences with Will, the bad one is his boss, Jacobs. He cares about what's best for the company, but for the sake of money more so than his employees, and can be considered the antagonist because of that. A secondary antagonist is a caretaker at the shelter Caesar is placed in. His actions make him one of three catalysts for the apes' rebellion.
The humans may have more well known actors on their side, but the apes have more memorable characters on theirs. There's another chimp named Rocket, a gorilla named Buck, a bonobo named Koba (keep him in mind for later), an orangutan named Maurice, and of course Caesar himself. The best characters in the movie aside from Caesar are Maurice and Buck, the latter of whom gets a big moment during the finale. Maurice is another ape you get interested in besides Caesar. He befriends him and becomes very close to him throughout both this movie and the trilogy as a whole.
However, the standout character is Caesar himself, and Andy Serkis is the main reason why. He put motion-capture performances on the map with Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, King Kong in Peter Jackson's remake, and even more so with Caesar here. His performance alone gives enough reason to root for him.
In regards to the technical aspects, the script, the editing, and the effects are most noteworthy. The script gives the characters equal and proper development. For fans of the original movies, there are plenty of references here. One in particular involves Caesar, and it's very satisfying. If the performance by Andy Serkis isn't enough of a reason to root for Caesar, that one reference certainly is. The editing makes the movie very well paced.
The effects may evolve throughout the sequels, but the work on display here should be given credit because the apes start out looking and feeling like real apes, and they look more and more seamless as the trilogy progresses.
Also worth noting is the score. Similar to Prometheus, it has its own way of standing out: it has a certain track throughout, which could be considered the theme.
What Didn't Work: These are more of nitpicks than actual negatives. While the direction and cinematography are still really good, they stand out more in the sequels. There are also characters that the audience may not get to know all that well here, but they get further development later. Aside from those nitpicks, there are no major problems.
Overall: Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an excellent example, like Batman Begins, of how a reboot can actually be really good. It even feels like the Batman Begins of this particular franchise, because much like that, it provides a foundation for something special: another great trilogy that gets better with each installment. Here, there's more than just that: it has likable characters on both sides of an eventual conflict, amazing story progression and pacing, and of course some fan service as a bonus. It serves as another landmark for advancement in effects that also get better with each installment, as well as a great starting point for anyone interested in checking the series out.
Side Note: Stay through the credits. There's a mid-credits scene, and then it shows the aftermath of that. All I'll say is this: a caretaker serves as one of the three catalysts for the apes' rebellion. The main one is in that scene, and it's a result of something that happened earlier in the movie.