Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those who have harmed him.
Varun reviewedOctober 19, 2024
Rewatching this after 13 years and I’m still blown away by how good it is. The CGI is superb and even though this isn’t an original concept, my mind still went “This is genius!” at many moments during the film. Personally I’ve grown up watching tons of nature documentaries and still watch them regularly, but there’s still a huge level of disconnect between most of us humans and the natural world. Seeing interactions with our primate ancestors is such a surreal and mind opening experience and this movie absolutely gives a taste of that combined with a really entertaining plot. It’s very interesting to see when a previous form in the evolutionary line gains our level of intelligence, it upends our whole conception of humanity and our role in treating animals. I recall hearing a quote in the past that went something like “Science cannot move forward without heaps of dead monkeys.” It’s an unfortunate reality but seeing movies like this will hopefully appeal to our empathy for these deeply intelligent and emotional creatures. I like that without any dialogue, different apes clearly show distinct personalities which is a testament to how good CGI technology had gotten by 2011. Caesar is such an awesome badass protagonist. The endearing story of him growing up with a loving family but becoming disillusioned with being treated as a pet that needs to be holed up and seek constant permission, and then experiencing institutionalised cruelty that sparks him to revolt, it all flows so well. I loved that one scene in an avenue where all the leaves start falling, such a cool visual to showcase the impending chaos. I never got around to seeing the sequels, so I’m super excited to check them out before I see the fourth movie. The first movie feels like it’s just the beginning backstory of Caesar that also allowed for a good exploration of many themes and I hope the sequels continue this trend of raising deep philosophical questions. Reject humanity, return to monke and justice for Harambe!!!