Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Discussion/Review

[Kelso]

I didn't think the neighbor was an over-the-top asshole. All he did was chase a chimp away from his kids with a baseball bat and yell at a guy who just smashed up his nice car. Neither seem out of line, given the circumstances. And hadn't Lithgow's character been on the drug at that point? If the neighbor had seen him during his lucid period, he might not even have known that anything was wrong with him. The guy was kind of a jerk, but not extraordinarily so.

And he did confront the weird dude who was poking around the neighbor's house. That counts for something, right?

 

[Trekker4747]

I didn't think the neighbor was an over-the-top asshole. All he did was chase a chimp away from his kids with a baseball bat and yell at a guy who just smashed up his nice car. Neither seem out of line, given the circumstances. And hadn't Lithgow's character been on the drug at that point? If the neighbor had seen him during his lucid period, he might not even have known that anything was wrong with him. The guy was kind of a jerk, but not extraordinarily so.

And he did confront the weird dude who was poking around the neighbor's house. That counts for something, right?

Getting mad at the neighbors over the ape and the kids makes an ounce or two of sense. The stuff over the car? Not so much. Not when the obviously confused older man is doing it and not to the level the neighbor went to he was screaming and acting as if the car was wrecked. It was far from it.

 

[DarthPipes]

I didn't think the neighbor was an over-the-top asshole. All he did was chase a chimp away from his kids with a baseball bat and yell at a guy who just smashed up his nice car. Neither seem out of line, given the circumstances. And hadn't Lithgow's character been on the drug at that point? If the neighbor had seen him during his lucid period, he might not even have known that anything was wrong with him. The guy was kind of a jerk, but not extraordinarily so.

And he did confront the weird dude who was poking around the neighbor's house. That counts for something, right?

I was criticizing him protecting the kids from the chimp. Hell, I would have called the cops myself. But his behavior towards John Lithgow's character was ridiculous.

The humans are definitely the weakest aspect of this film but like Trekker4747 said, it's still a great movie.

 

[What's his face]

Saw the movie. Loved it. The best part?

Spoiler: spoiler

Caesar yells "Nooooo!!!!" at the jerk human at the ape zoo. When he spoke everyone in the theatre gasped. One guy yelled, "what the fuck?" I take it this was the reaction in most theatres.

Also, did anyone else notice that

Spoiler: Caesar

Caesar is standing upright at the end? It's as though he's completed his transformation into an intelligent being.

 

[DarKush]

I saw it yesterday. I enjoyed it a lot. I also did a WTF at the abovementioned first spoiler. That was a very powerful, well rendered moment. I also noticed Caesar's stature at the end, but it didn't really register until just now. Overall a very enjoyable film. Much better than the disappointing Burton film.

I'm looking forward to the sequels. Hopefully they will be as good. I thought this was a pointless remake at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, that "spoiler moment" was great and powerful.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Saw it yesterday and loved it. The Mars mission took me by surprise, but then I figured it was a set-up for the sequels.

The minus is for James Franco, who has the emotional range of a Vulcan. Why do people keep singing his praises?

I've been impressed with the wide range of roles he's had. Hes gone back and forth between serious roles and playing stoner/slacker dudes, something not many actors can get away with. He's done a soap opera, he's played a villain... Seems like he's done it all. He even manages to look different simply by changing his demeanor. I don't always recognize him at first.

As for the aging issue in the movie, I noticed the lack of it as the years went by too, but I 'll let it go because James Franco looked pretty much the same in Spider-Man as he does now and that movie was made 9 years ago. He looked a little fresher back then, but not by much.

Spoiler: ceasar

Anybody else get a "geek-woody" When The Lawgiver spoke for the first time?

When he yelled "NO!" there was one clap and a sense of excitement, almost like there could have been some applause.

The trailers really paint the wrong picture. They make this look like a movie about humans.

The trailers make the movie look idiotic. A bunch of chimps swarming around, the effect is just comical.

I thought the trailers looked pretty good.

So has heard if they plan to keep the series in the present (or near future or whenever it takes place) or will they jump forward to time of the original movie eventually?

I have not heard or read anything definitive yet, but were I to hazard a guess, I'd say that since seems to clearly indicate a different timeline that that depicted in PotA 1968, I'd say that they may stick with a contemporary setting, at least for a few films. This would allow for the development of continuity and for us to see the next stage of the shifting of power.

If the next movie started say, 10 months after the events of this one, the virus would well be on its way to wiping out a large portion of humanity, allowing the apes a chance to begin an all-out war against the remaining survivors. A third film then, might deal with the return of the Icarus, but perhaps only 100 years into the future, as opposed to nearly 2,000.

I'm just speculating here. Being that this is clearly NOT the Icarus of the original, then there's nothing to hold them to having it return in the far-distant future.

Not having seen the originals, I don't find myself trying to fit this movie into whatever continuity they had. My thinking is that the Icarus will return to Earth one or two years later only to find most of the population gone and the apes either on the rise or pretty much established. No distant future setting or anything. If they went the distant future route, we probably wouldn't see Ceasar or James Franco. Now, one issue with keeping it a year or two later is that there aren't enough smart apes, so they'll have to find some way to spread their intelligence. Either the virus will do it or they could inject their blood into others. I don't know if they'll be able to take over the lab and replicate it on their own or with human slave labor, but that's also a possibility.

What I can't swallow is a virus making you immune to being cut to shreds by plate glass windows and doors when you smash through them. The GenSys attack in particular is ridiculous. Nor does a brain improving virus make you survive a forty foot fall without injury.

I noticed that too and agree that it was a bit much.

 

[Admiral2]

Saw it yesterday and loved it. The Mars mission took me by surprise, but then I figured it was a set-up for the sequels.

The minus is for James Franco, who has the emotional range of a Vulcan. Why do people keep singing his praises?

I've been impressed with the wide range of roles he's had. Hes gone back and forth between serious roles and playing stoner/slacker dudes, something not many actors can get away with. He's done a soap opera, he's played a villain... Seems like he's done it all.

A wide range of parts is not the same as a wide range of emotion which I've yet to see him display.

He even manages to look different simply by changing his demeanor.

No he doesn't, which is kinda my issue with him...

 

[JD]

Yeah, that "spoiler moment" was great and powerful.

Yeah, I did not expect that at all. There were some gasps in the theater I saw it in too.

 

[sbk1234]

question, maybe I missed something.

Spoiler: apes

When people are referring to the "Lawgiver" speaking, do they mean Caesar saying "No?"

Spoiler: apes

Also, where was the statue of Caesar that was mentioned?

 

[Dream]

Loved the movie. Caesar is one of the most awesome CGI characters in a while. The only flaw that this movie had was that the humans themselves weren't all that interesting.

Now time to rewatch the first POTA!

 

[Trekker4747]

Loved the movie. Caesar is one of the most awesome CGI characters in a while. The only flaw that this movie had was that the humans themselves weren't all that interesting.

Now time to rewatch the first POTA!

My BD of it came today, will watch it later tonight!

 

[PsychoPere]

question, maybe I missed something.

Spoiler: apes

When people are referring to the "Lawgiver" speaking, do they mean Caesar saying "No?"

Spoiler: apes

Also, where was the statue of Caesar that was mentioned?

Spoiler: question one

Those who have been referring to "the Lawgiver" so far in this thread have attributed that title to Caesar, but in the original series of films the Lawgiver was not Caesar - he was an Orangutan who lived nearly 700 years after Caesar.

Spoiler: question two

I believe they were referring to a broken toy Statue of Liberty (as, of course, an homage to the 1968 film), not a statue of Caesar.

 

[sbk1234]

thanks for the answers. Your answer to the first question was what I thought. I remembered the bit of info you gave about the aformentioned historically important yellow ape, so some of the conversations did confuse me a bit.

Spoiler: lawgiver

Of course, he was shown in Battle of the Planet of the Apes, as portrayed by John Huston.

 

[Saga]

just got back from seeing this. i've always been a big Apes fan since i was a kid, so i went in not expecting much. i thought this was a really good Apes film, and also a solid sci fi film. i liked all the references to the previous films.

 

[Ethros]

Just saw it myself this afternoon.

Hmm, yeah it was good. Obviously the effects and Sirkis' performance were top notch. But it was definitely one of those movies where if you've seen the trailer you've seen film.
The trailer tells you everything that happens, Franco looks after a little ape, he grows up smart, gets taken away put into a zoo, makes the others clever too with that gas, leads them in a revolt as they escape, go on a rampage, have a fight at the Golden Gate Bridge etc etc

One clip I saw even gave away the black guy's death of being pushed over in the helicopter. What the hell sort of clip gives away a core characters death???



was just expecting there to be a bit more at the end really. I'll be nice and give it a B, maybe B+, but not the best Summer movie this year. Not sure I'd bother watching it again really

 

[timothy]

plan to see it this weekend. I was wondering do I have to stay till the end of the credits?

 

[Mike Farley]

No. But don't leave as soon as they start to roll. There's a bit a few minutes in.

 

[timothy]

very cool thanks. do you think this will be a trilogy?

 

[Harvey]

Since it is doing well, there will at least be a sequel. The original film managed to furnish four sequels and a television series, so who knows how many sequels Fox will want to pursue with this reboot. As many as they can wring out of it, I would guess.