Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes – DVD Review

The Film:

If there was anything that was going to sell me on a Planet of the Apes prequel, it was the fact that WETA were involved with the special effects. I am happy to report that not only did WETA out do themselves, but this is actually quite a fun film. The original 1968 film is a classic, and an enjoyable one. It spawned countless films and Tim Burton even tackled a remake. Nothing really could live up to the original, and I think this new film actually comes pretty close.

The main focus of the story is Caesar, an ape that is far more advanced than any others. This is thanks to his mother being a test subject and injected with a substance known as ALZ112. The drug’s purpose is to repair the human brain, and cure Alzheimer’s disease. It was created by Will Rodman (James Franco), and his motivations seem to steam from his own fathers suffering (John Lithgow). A catastrophic event causes Will to take care of Caesar in his own home, and they see just how ALZ112 has affected him, and how advanced he becomes. Without giving too much away, the drug itself has dire consequences that leads to the creation of a new drug, which comes with its own problems.

I’d rather not enter into spoilers with this review, as I came into this expecting to know what was going to happen, and as it turned out Rise of the Planet of the Apes had quite a few surprises for me. The story is quite engaging, and instantly I made a connection with Will and his father and then Caesar. Their story is quite heartbreaking at times, and some scenes were certainly difficult to watch. The star of the show really is Caesar, brought to life by the wonderful Andy Serkis and the WETA team. The emotions run high with him, and he feels like such a real entity, it is an astonishing achievement on both sides. While I thought they did a great job with Peter Jackson’s King Kong, this blows it right out of the water. He actually has such an amazing realism, that at times you forget he isn’t actually a real creature. The other apes were all extremely well done, each having their own traits and personalities. They had their own storyline, and it become one of the most engaging elements in the film, and definitely a stand out with the other blockbusters from this year.

On the human side of things James Franco was quite good, and he makes for a likable lead. The connection between Will and Caesar was central to the story, Franco and Serkis really pulled it off. John Lithgow was quite good as Will’s sick father, he’s one of my favorite actors and I really enjoyed seeing him in such a different and challenging role. David Oyelowo made for the perfect a-hole, seeing only $$$ in regards to the research that Will is conducting. Freida Pinto was stunning to look at, and she made for a likable counter part to Will, and the one who saw the logic. Brain Cox and Tom Felton were rather perfect in their respective roles, it was very cool to see Felton away from Harry Potter, his character was almost like the real world Draco Malfoy. Earlier this year when I had the opportunity to interview David Hewlett, he had mentioned he had a small role in this film but wasn’t at liberty to say what it was. He does have a substantial role, and he was very entertaining and it was great to see him.

Overall the film delivered for me, it was engaging, well acted and as I said the work WETA pulled off was simply amazing. It definitely fit in well with what was established in the original film, and if they chose to remake it again the seeds have been planted. It told an interesting story and one of caution, it was emotional and the ending was quite satisfactory. I highly recommend giving this one ago, it might surprise you as it did me.

The DVD:

Audio/Video

The audio came in loud and clear, but I it seems like a little more care could have been put into the Dolby 5.1 track to push it over the top. The video looked great for a DVD release, and makes me want to pick up the blu-ray to see it in all its glory.

Special Features

Mythology of the Planet of the Apes: A short and sweet feature that dives into the history of this beloved franchise. Well worth checking out.

The Genius of Andy Serkis: A well rounded feature that is a must watch.

There are also a few deleted scenes and trailers on this disc as well.

The Film Rating:

The DVD Rating: