Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt | 106 minutes | action, drama, thriller, science fiction | Actors: James Franco, Tom Felton, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Brian Cox, John Lithgow, Tyler Labine, David Hewlett, Leah Gibson, David Oyelowo, Sonja Bennett, Chelah Horsdal, Jamie Harris, Karin Konoval, Richard Ridings, Elizabeth Weinstein, Terry Notary, Jesse Reid, James Pizzinato, Monica Mustelier, Mattie Hawkinson, Evans Johnson, Christopher Gordon, Robin Nielsen, Jeb Beach, Devyn Dalton, Gordon Douglas Myren

Meet Chimp 9, a great ape who manages to solve complex puzzles with human ease. Her intelligence is the result of a drug with the telltale name ALZ-112. It is being developed by scientific researcher Will Rodman (James Franco) and is intended to tackle Alzheimer’s disease through genetic means. “One chance is all I need”, he tells his boss. But precisely during a presentation that determines further financing, a side effect emerges: Chimp 9 breaks loose, goes on a demolition tour through the laboratory and thoroughly shakes the presentation. End of exercise for Will. Until he discovers a baby monkey in Chimp 9’s cage. He names it ‘Ceasar’ (Andy Serkis, it seems) and takes it home to further develop ALZ-112 there. Behold the very beginning of ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’

Will is that quintessential blockbuster scientist, flirting with danger because the passion for his lofty dream is simply too strong. He has reason to look for a cure for Alzheimer’s: his father Charles (John Lithgow), who lives with him, now plays the piano terribly and is also seriously absent-minded: “Where are my car keys?” he asks at one point. irritated. “Dad, you don’t drive a car anymore…” Will answers sadly. James Franco gives Will very little personality. Rightly so: he is his research. It makes sense that he dares to use his father as a human guinea pig and sweetheart Caroline (Freida Pinto) just hangs out as ‘Sprechhund’. He confides to her that he loves Caesar but is also afraid of it. He barely hears her reaction: “It is also appropriate to be afraid of Caesar.” Ceasar has inherited the special qualities of his mother and is developing rapidly from a lying play child to a very strong young adult who speaks fluent sign language. You can feel the rebelliousness smoldering in him as he takes a moment for himself at the top of a giant ensemble, looking out over San Francisco.

More than his strength, the development of Caesar’s brain signals danger in ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’. After an incident with an already harassed neighbor, Will is forced to take Caesar to a monkey sanctuary. That monkey business is run by the scruffy John Landon (Brian Cox), a man with orangutan-colored hair and matching sunglasses. Ceasar’s first steps between his ilk feel like Einstein stepping into a pub full of drunken hooligans. Amid them, a plan forms in his brain: chimpanzee politics at its best. Caesar begins to live up to his immodest name. He succeeds not only because there are very smart monkeys in ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, but also because there are very stupid people. Take Dodge (Tom Felton), the IQ-less zookeeper who scorns the scum he maintains. Or Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo), who runs the pharmaceutical company where Will Rodman works. Like Michael J. Fox in ‘The Secret of My Success’, it looks like it came straight out of the mailroom. (So ​​it’s still possible.) To his heart’s content, he scatters phrases like “You’re wasting my time!” or “You make history, I make money!” Like his power suits, they give him an air of weightiness. But he is betrayed by the everyday situations in which you find him: getting into his car, standing in an elevator, walking down a corridor, watching behind glass how scientists do the real work.

‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ in a way plays with our (rather arrogant) fear that it is precisely our own special qualities that could destroy humanity. For a long time, the film remains the story of a scientist and his hyper-intelligent chimp. Of course, the film has to explode at some point. The promise of the title is guilt. By the way, when 20th Century Fox outlines how a Monkey Planet is born, it is not in the form of a Darwinian exposition, but with a mythical Big Bang. The logic is sometimes pushed aside for the sake of convenience. Ceasar’s development, for example, is a meticulously recorded evolution, but congeners transform in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t matter, what counts is the magnificence and credibility of the spectacle. And what more could you want, if the location of the climax represents a pinnacle of our human greatness? In terms of credibility, it is a pity that some events appear more laughable than impressive. That has nothing to do with the special effects. Ceasar himself is a completely digital creation, but as a young bully, swings lifelike through Will’s house at breakneck speed. From cupboard to wall to lamp and on to the kitchen, where he – hoppa! – a cookie snatches. That’s entertainment.