Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Movie #9 of 2024:

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

[Edited version of my original review from 2017.]

After decades languishing as a punchline in the wilderness of popular culture, Planet of the Apes got a long-overdue update in this 2011 feature, which is best understood as a quasi-canonical reboot for the franchise. Specifically, I would argue that this title is a prequel to the very first movie, going back to the original timeline — that is, ignoring the parallel version of history that branched off from the time-travel in Escape — to show how Earth started down the path towards eventual ape domination. There are still some plot holes to that approach, like how the future apes were taught that their ancestors were slaves and Aldo was the first of their kind to rebel against the masters, but it seems generally in line with what these filmmakers intended. (For example, a running thread in the background involves regular news reports about the Icarus spaceship going missing, and that was the name of the vessel that went off-course to bring Taylor and his crew crashing down to the planet where he met Dr. Zaius and the rest.) We’ve shifted focus from the threat of nuclear war to the risks of genetic tinkering, yet the moral thrust of the work still places humanity’s downfall as a consequence of our own misdeeds, with the apes serving as more of a lucky bystander recipient than the active agent of our doom.

But this is an intentional refresh for the series, so you don’t necessarily have to have seen any of the other films to follow along and enjoy it, fun as it is to spot the familiar lines of dialogue or the parallels to Conquest in particular. On its own terms, it’s a thrilling and heartfelt adventure that definitely carves out a distinct place for itself within the wider Apes narrative. If anything, its tale of a miraculous serum unlocking a worthy protagonist’s advanced powers recalls the superhero movies of the early 2000s, complete with the supporting presence of both Brian Cox and James Franco.

The storyline is pretty grounded compared to previous installments, especially once you accept the overall premise that an experimental superdrug to treat Alzheimer’s could boost the intelligence of its chimpanzee test subjects to the level of planning and carrying out a grand escape from captivity. (It’s a Rats of NIMH retelling! Kinda. And did I mention this came out the same year as Limitless?) Despite the title of the flick, the apes aren’t trying to launch a revolution to overthrow their oppressors at this point, merely to gather their brethren and reach the safety of the nearby forests across the Golden Gate Bridge. But a subplot neatly depicts how the viral treatment that’s made the apes smarter is also starting to spread throughout the human population, where it’s both highly contagious and fatal — rather chilling to rewatch now post-2020 — and thereby charts a plausible course from our reality to that of the ape-dominated future in the first movie. If the franchise had ended here, it still would feel like it had managed to come full circle and tell a complete story.

The characters are great too, with this Caesar getting more of a personal arc than his namesake in the 70s films. Both chimps are Moses figures, raised apart from their people and only belatedly learning the depth of their plight and taking on the mantle of saving them, but this one undergoes more of an obvious evolution in his growing disillusionment with humanity. In his final destructive charge across the city, he spares a few humans who have done him no harm, but he pointedly refuses to extend mercy to the actively abusive ones and in the end he coldly rebuffs the family that abandoned him. Throughout it all, the motion-capture CGI is a welcome change from the old makeup and masks and an impressive achievement even over a decade later, bringing him and the other apes to life in a way where you often genuinely forget that you’re not watching trained animal actors at work. (The 2001 Tim Burton film, to its shame, remains the only entry in the franchise to utilize any actual non-human primates.) It’s a bold new start, and one of my absolute favorites.

[Content warning for gun violence and gore.]

★★★★★

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