Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt
and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis.
Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, it is 20th Century Fox's reboot of the Planet
of the Apes series, intended to act as an origin story for a new series of films.
Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet
of the Apes, but it is not a direct remake of that film.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on August 5, 2011, to critical and commercial
success.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
It was also nominated for five Saturn Awards including Best Director for Wyatt and Best
Writing for Jaffa and Silver, winning Best Science Fiction Film, Best Supporting Actor
for Serkis and Best Special Effects.
Serkis' performance as Caesar was widely acclaimed, earning him many nominations from many associations
which do not usually recognize performance capture as traditional acting.
A sequel to the film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, is set for release on July 11, 2014.
Plot Will Rodman, a scientist at biotechnology
company Gen-Sys, is testing viral-based drug ALZ-112 on chimpanzees to find a cure for
brain ailments such as Alzheimer's disease.
The drug is given to a chimpanzee, Bright Eyes, greatly increasing her intelligence,
but she is forced from her cage, goes on a rampage, and is killed.
Will's boss Steven Jacobs terminates the project and orders chimp handler Robert Franklin to
euthanize the chimps.
After doing as ordered, Franklin discovers that Bright Eyes had recently given birth
and convinces Will to save the baby chimp's life by taking him home temporarily.
Will's father Charles, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, names the chimp "Caesar".
Will learns that Caesar has inherited his mother's high intelligence and decides to
raise him, working from home and observing his behavior in hopes that he can get the
project restarted.
Three years later, Will introduces Caesar to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National
Monument.
Meanwhile, with Charles' condition rapidly deteriorating, Will treats him with ALZ-112
and he is restored to better-than-original cognitive ability.
After five more years and upon seeing a dog on a leash like his own, Caesar openly questions
his identity and Will tells him of his origins.
Meanwhile, Charles's dementia returns as he has become resistant to the ALZ-112.
Caesar witnesses a confrontation between confused Charles and neighbor Douglas Hunsiker and
attacks Hunsiker.
Caesar is then placed in a primate shelter where he is treated cruelly by the other chimps
and the chief guard, Dodge Landon.
Caesar learns how to unlock his cage, gaining free access to the common area.
With the assistance of Buck, a gorilla, he confronts the sanctuary's alpha chimp and
claims that position.
Jacobs clears development of a more powerful, gaseous version of the viral drug when Will
tells him it will not only heal brain disease but also improve intelligence in anyone.
Will takes the drug home to try to save his father, but Charles declines and passes away
overnight.
Franklin is later exposed to the new drug and becomes ill.
Attempting to warn Will at his home, he sneezes blood onto Hunsiker and is later discovered
dead.
Will attempts to reclaim Caesar, but the chimp refuses to go home with him.
Instead, he escapes from the facility and returns to Will's house, where he takes canisters
of the ALZ-113.
Returning to the facility, Caesar releases the gas, enhancing the intelligence of the
other apes overnight.
When Dodge attempts to get him back into his cage, Caesar shocks him by speaking for the
first time, yelling "No!".
Caesar then electrocutes the cattle prod-wielding Dodge by spraying him with water, unintentionally
killing him.
The apes flee the facility, release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, and free the other apes
from the San Francisco Zoo.
A battle ensues as the ape army fight their way past a police blockade on the Golden Gate
Bridge to escape into the Redwood forest at Muir Woods.
Buck sacrifices himself to save Caesar by jumping into the helicopter in which Jacobs
is riding.
The helicopter crashes onto the bridge, trapping Jacobs in the wreckage.
Jacobs is then killed by Koba, an elder ape who had been a test subject all his life.
As the apes find their way into the forest, Will arrives and warns Caesar that the humans
will hunt them down, and begs him to return home.
To Will's surprise, Caesar hugs him, symbolizing that he still loves Will.
Caesar then speaks and says "Caesar is home".
Will, realizing that this is indeed their last farewell, respects Caesar's wishes.
During the credits, Hunsiker leaves his house for work as an airline pilot, arriving at
San Francisco International Airport for his flight to Paris.
His nose begins to drip blood onto the floor.
A graphic traces the spread of the humanity-killing virus to Europe and then around the globe
via international airline flight routes.
Cast Humans
James Franco as Dr. William "Will" Rodman, a scientist who is trying to discover a cure
for his father's Alzheimer's disease by testing ALZ-112 on chimps.
He is a father figure to Caesar.
James Franco was cast after talks with Tobey Maguire broke down.
Freida Pinto as Caroline Aranha, a primatologist who starts a relationship with Will and grows
attached to Caesar.
John Lithgow as Charles Rodman, Will's Alzheimer's-afflicted father and a former music teacher who improves
after Will gives him the ALZ-112 and forms a strong bond with Caesar.
Brian Cox as John Landon, manager of the San Bruno Primate Shelter where Caesar is confined
for a time.
His full name is a reference to one of the astronauts in the original Planet of the Apes.
Tom Felton as Dodge Landon, John's son and an animal caretaker at the shelter, who enjoys
treating the apes cruelly.
His first and last name are references to two of the astronauts in the original Planet
of the Apes.
David Oyelowo as Steven Jacobs, Will's greedy boss.
His last name is a reference to Arthur P. Jacobs, the producer of the original Planet
of the Apes series.
Tyler Labine as Robert Franklin, a chimp handler at Gen-Sys and one of Will's friends.
Jamie Harris as Rodney, a caretaker and a nightwatchman who is much kinder to the apes
at the sanctuary and is regularly victimized by Dodge for this.
David Hewlett as Douglas Hunsiker, Will's hot headed neighbor.
Chelah Horsdal as Irena, a nurse who is looking after Charles.
Apes Andy Serkis as Caesar, a common chimpanzee
whose intelligence is increased from inheriting ALZ-112 from his mother during her pregnancy,
and who is raised by Will for eight years.
He leads an ape revolution against humanity.
The character is based on Caesar from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the
Planet of the Apes of the original series.
Karin Konoval as Maurice, a Bornean orangutan who had retired from the circus and knows
sign language; he becomes Caesar's closest ally.
His name is a reference to Maurice Evans, who played orangutan Dr. Zaius in the original
Planet of the Apes.
Konoval also cameos as the court clerk who Will briefly argues with about his appeal.
Terry Notary as Rocket, the dominant chimpanzee at the ape sanctuary, until Caesar overthrows
him.
His name references the set decorator of Planet of the Apes, Norman Rockett.
Also as Bright Eyes, Caesar's mother who was captured in Africa.
Her name is the nickname given to Charlton Heston's human character by Zira in the 1968
film.
Richard Ridings as Buck, a western lowland gorilla who pledges his allegiance to Caesar
after he is freed by him.
His name is a reference to Buck Kartalian, who played the gorilla Julius in the 1968
film and the gorilla Frank in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
Devyn Dalton as Cornelia, a female chimpanzee in the ape sanctuary.
Her name is based on that of Cornelius, played by Roddy McDowall in the original Planet of
the Apes.
Jay Caputo as Alpha, the dominant male chimpanzee of Bright Eyes' troop and Caesar's father.
Christopher Gordon as Koba, a scarred bonobo who has spent most of his life in laboratories
and holds a grudge against humans.
He is named Koba after an alias often used by Joseph Stalin.
Production Development and writing
In 2006, screenwriter-producer Rick Jaffa was searching for a script idea.
As Jaffa searched a newspaper articles clipping, one about pet chimpanzees that become troublesome
to their owners and heartbroken for not adapting well to the human environment intrigued him.
As Jaffa eventually realized it fit the Planet of the Apes series, he called his wife and
screenwriting partner Amanda Silver to express his ideas of such a chimpanzee eventually
starting the ape revolution, and then the couple started developing the character of
Caesar.
Jaffa and Silver then wrote a script and sold it to Fox, producers of the Apes franchise.
The script added other elements which the couple had researched, such as genetic engineering.
Several tributes to specific scenes, characters, and cast and crew from the previous Apes film
series were added in the script.
In particular, Caesar's treatment at the primate sanctuary parallels Taylor's treatment as
a captive in the original film.
In a segment of a video blog post, director Rupert Wyatt commented on the originality
of the plot: "This is part of the mythology and it should be seen as that.
It's not a continuation of the other films; it's an original story.
It does satisfy the people who enjoy those films.
The point of this film is to achieve that and to bring that fan base into this film
exactly like Batman Begins."
In a 2009 interview, Wyatt said, "We've incorporated elements from Conquest of the Planet of the
Apes, in terms of how the apes begin to revolt, but this is primarily a prequel to the 1968
film...Caesar is a revolutionary figure who will be talked about by his fellow apes for
centuries...This is just the first step in the evolution of the apes, and there's a lot
more stories to tell after this.
I imagine the next film will be about the all-out war between the apes and humans."
Filming Filming began in July 2010 in Vancouver, British
Columbia.
Filming also happened in San Francisco, California, and around Oahu, Hawaii, which doubled for
the African jungle as the schedule and budget did not allow for location shooting in Africa.
Visual effects As the animals in Rise were meant to be actual
apes instead of the anthropomorphic simians of the original Apes film franchise, the producers
decided not to use actors in make-up or animal suits.
After considering real apes, instead Weta Digital created the apes digitally in almost
every case through performance capture.
Advances in the technology allowed the use of performance capture in an exterior environment,
affording the film-makers the freedom to shoot much of the film on location with other actors,
as opposed to the confines of a soundstage.
The main breakthrough was a camera that enabled viewing the motion capture dots in daylight,
employed mostly for the Golden Gate Bridge battle.
A maximum of six actors could have their movements captured, with larger ape crowds using fully
digital animals animated using Weta's move library.
The Golden Gate Bridge set used both a physical set which was extended digitally, and a fully
computer-generated model of the bridge that also included the ocean and nearby hills.
After shooting the actors playing humans interacting with others wearing the motion capture suits,
a clean plate was shot with actors for extra reference.
Actor-stuntman Terry Notary guided the actors on realistic ape movement, while Weta studied
the chimps in the Wellington zoo for reference.
The digital apes also received detailed models with skeletons, muscles and nerve tissue layers
for accurate animation.
Cast models of apes' heads and limbs helped the texture department replicate skin details
such as wrinkles and pores.
Given the difference between human and chimpanzee facial muscles, the animators tweaked the
performance through a new facial muscle system adding dynamics, ballistics, and secondary
motion.
As the silent performance required expressive eyes, a new eye model was made to depict both
greater accuracy in muscle movement in and around the eyes, and also tears, pupil dilation,
and light refraction.
While Andy Serkis was the primary performer for Caesar, as the effects team considered
that at times "Andy overcame the character," other motion capture team actors were also
used, especially Devyn Dalton, whose height matched that of a chimpanzee.
Along with that, they used Notary to play Caesar in stunt-filled scenes such as the
Golden Gate Bridge scene.
Music The score for the film was written by Patrick
Doyle and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony.
The main concern was to have the music help progress the plot in the scenes without dialogue,
for instance, conveying the emotions of Caesar's relationships with Will and Charles.
To turn the score into a "driving force that keeps audiences paying attention," Doyle employed
an African-American chorus and focused on percussion and "low and deep" orchestra sounds.
Doyle collaborated closely with the sound department to make the music complement the
sound effects, including writing a recurring theme based on their recording of a chimpanzee.
Reception Critical response
Reviews for Rise of the Planet of the Apes have been positive, with review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes reporting an 82% "Certified Fresh" rating, and an average rating of 7.1/10,
based on 247 reviews.
The site's critical consensus is: "Led by Rupert Wyatt's stylish direction, some impressive
special effects, and a mesmerizing performance by Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the
Apes breathes unlikely new life into a long-running franchise."
Another review aggregator, Metacritic, reports a score of 68 based on 39 reviews.
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised the role of Caesar and Andy Serkis
by stating it was a "wonderfully executed character" and "one never knows exactly where
the human ends and the effects begin, but Serkis and/or Caesar gives the best performance
in the movie."
Giving the film 5 out of 5 stars, Joe Neumaier of Daily News labelled Rise of the Planet
of the Apes as the summer's best popcorn flick.
Nick Pinkerton of The Village Voice wrote, "Caesar's prison conversion to charismatic
pan-ape revolutionist is near-silent filmmaking, with simple and precise images illustrating
Caesar's General-like divining of personalities and his organization of a group from chaos
to order."
Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel wrote, "Audacious, violent and disquieting, "Rise of the Planet
of the Apes" is a summer sequel that's better than it has any right to be."
He gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars.
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised the film by saying, "Precisely the kind of
summer diversion that the studios have such a hard time making now.
It's good, canny-dumb fun."
She also gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars.
Box office Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprise
hit upon release.
The film made its debut in the United States and Canada on roughly 5,400 screens within
3,648 theaters.
It grossed $19,534,699 on opening day and $54,806,191 in its entire opening weekend,
making it #1 for that weekend as well as the fourth highest-grossing August opening ever.
The film held on to the #1 spot in its second weekend, dropping 49.2%, and grossing $27,832,307.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes crossed the $150 million mark in the United States and
Canada on its 26th day of release.
Entertainment Weekly said that this was quite an accomplishment for the film since the month
of August is a difficult time for films to make money.
The film ended its run at the box office on December 15, 2011, with a gross of $176,760,185
in the U.S. and Canada as well as $305,040,688 internationally, for a total of $481,800,873
worldwide.
Awards Sequel
Regarding the story setting up possible sequels, director Rupert Wyatt commented: "I think
we're ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting.
To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning."
Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that Rise of the Planet of the Apes
would feature several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we're building a platform for
future films.
We're trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about
in terms of the different apes and so forth."
Filming of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes started on North Vancouver Island in April
2013.
The location of Vancouver Island was chosen for its similarity to the locations depicted
in the film, the forests, and the variety of landscapes.
Home media Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released
on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and Digital Copy on December 13, 2011.
See also Notes and references
External links Official website
Rise of the Planet of the Apes at the Internet Movie Database