Yet another version of “Planet of the Apes’ has been released. The FX-laden “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is the seventh installment of the franchise that started with the 1968 Charlton Heston original. This story features James Franco as a scientist whose experiments in genetic engineering leads to higher intelligence in apes. He even adopts one, named Caesar, and, after a while, you guessed it, things go terribly wrong. The drama proceeds from there.
Director Rupert Wyatt (“The Escapist” 2008) and screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver instilled great production values in all areas to make this a high quality film. The special effects (FX) were outstanding, especially the “motion capture” performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar. This “motion capture” process records movement of the actor, who is covered in censors, then transfers that motion to a digital model, in this case the intelligent ape Caesar. (Serkis played Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the title character in 2005’s “King Kong” by the same method.) Other actors also were used to stand in for apes with motion capture. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
The cast with Andy Serkis and James Franco includes Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and David Oyelowo. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was successful in theatrical release for 20th Century Fox.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
cinema
My Review
Yet another version of “Planet of the Apes’ has been released. The FX-laden “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is the seventh installment of the franchise that started with the 1968 Charlton Heston original. This story features James Franco as a scientist whose experiments in genetic engineering leads to higher intelligence in apes. He even adopts one, named Caesar, and, after a while, you guessed it, things go terribly wrong. The drama proceeds from there.
Director Rupert Wyatt (“The Escapist” 2008) and screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver instilled great production values in all areas to make this a high quality film. The special effects (FX) were outstanding, especially the “motion capture” performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar. This “motion capture” process records movement of the actor, who is covered in censors, then transfers that motion to a digital model, in this case the intelligent ape Caesar. (Serkis played Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the title character in 2005’s “King Kong” by the same method.) Other actors also were used to stand in for apes with motion capture. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
The cast with Andy Serkis and James Franco includes Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and David Oyelowo. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was successful in theatrical release for 20th Century Fox.