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20th Century Fox’s resuscitation of the Planet of the Apes franchise has brought another trailer that better reveals the story behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The Rupert Wyatt-directed film stars James Franco and opens Aug. 5. There will be high expectations, considering that the 1968 Charlton Heston original was so unforgettable for moviegoers old enough to remember it. And the Tim Burton-directed remake in 2001 was so disappointing.
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Despite the number of dramatic rumbles and dips to black in the trailer, I’m struggling to get excited about a film with such a preposterous premise. Almost 7 billion humans against primates who are so few in number that many species are on the endangered list. The original Planet of The Apes series was made at a time when nuclear apocalypse was a realistic prospect. End of the world. Reset. The monkeys rise. Without nuclear war, it just looks ridiculous. And if you’re ever flying a helicopter and a monkey jumps at it, just move a little further back and watch the little furry fellow plummet to his death.
I agree with you, Fan. If it were rabbits, we’d be overrun within days! Or kittens, we’d be too busy going “Awwww”! and posting YouTube videos to notice till it was too late. Oh wait…
+1
Monkey throws axe. Man fires gun. From one mile away.
How do we know a major plot point has not been revealed?
Of course everyone is going to wonder how a handful of Apes to over mankind. Maybe the “Cure” run through apes becomes deadly to humans like a plague… The Apes probably didn’t need to do anything to wipe out the humans. Just escape nothing more.
This monstrosity will bomb. people don’t want to look at computer generated man-apes. a truly ugly and stupid piece of exploitation cinema. franco won’t last in hollywood another 3 years.
Exactly. This is the fatal flaw of the movie. It’s entirely implausible, even impossible to try and create a storyline around an “ape revolution”. The only way to do it, IMO, would be to go with a scientific thriller plotline as the trailer sets up, and jettison the sort of global scale action trappings that make it laughable.
Implausibility is your litmus test?
Yeah, Thor was really plausible. Iron Man, too. Oh, and Kick Ass, that was the most plausible of all. And The Dark Knight — a guy in a bat suit runs around town fighting crime. Yeah, that happens all the time.
This movie is going to suck for one simple reason: it’s the same old shit Hollywood has been pumping out for a couple of decades now, with crappy, not-quite-real CGI and lousy, sledgehammer writing and directing.
Imagine if they actually had to tell a STORY with subtlety and nuance. Wouldn’t that be refreshing.
The only thing this movie has going for it is that it’s not based on a comic book. It’s still a 12-year old boy’s idea of COOL, but at least it’s not a comic book.
It wasn’t just nuclear war that did humans in in the original series. In CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, the mythology is that some time in the near future, most pets (and presumably a great number of animals) have died off in a plague. Mankind starts breeding a shitload of primates to take the place of said pets. These apes are ultimately domesticated and trained to become household “servants” (i.e. slaves). In the world of CONQUEST, apes are omnipresent in society as a kind of underclass. It’s still an absurd concept, but the metaphor of class revolution resonates enough to make the movie watchable.
With this reboot, I don’t know. My guess is that it’s more like ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (the film before CONQUEST). No “Ape Revolution” in that one; it just sets up how intelligent apes came into being in our present.
I think it deals more with the fact that “The Cure” which makes chimps intelligent is actually a virus for humans. The chimps just finish the job.
That’s handy isn’t it.
It’s a movie. It’s not real. It’s for entertainment. It can be far fetched and still be enjoyable. Everything about Holywood is far fetched. And this one looks alot more entertaining than any remake (or anything for that matter) that Tim Burton has done.
It’s a mmmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee.
Why are people thinking so hard about this movie especially since it’s been done many times but hopefully, this is as good as the original.
No wonder the Apes rule.
Are, you seriously questioning the logic but not Thor, Captain America, Batman, Transformers, GI Joe, or all the other 95% movies out there.
James Franco is an awesome actor and I’m watching because of him end off.
The shot of the monkey opening the fridge door should be made into a gif, with the words “I feel like chicken tonight”.
For the win!!!!
I bow to your excellence!
or better yet, “we have soda, purple stuff and… sunny delight!”
Now that is funny!
Was excited after seeing the first trailer, but now I’m beyond excited! I’m loving everything about this film, especially the premise. The cast looks great and the apes look amazing. CGI is done very well here, loving it.
Hey look, a studio shill!
CGI is done very well?
Please explain. According to my eyes I see video game chimpanzees.
Hey, look, a 12-year old boy!
MONKEY TENNIS!
I wonder if any Americans will get that…
This one did. Ah ha!
This is the first time in almost a decade that CGI really got me excited. The facial expressions of the apes are just stunning.
Facial expressions? it’s a man-ape, homey. such beasts have no known facial expressions. you must work for the studio, son.
takes one to spot one…
“CGI really got me excited…”
Yah. It got me excited when I first saw Jurassic Park. Now it just looks like video game characters.
Why not give the humans the drug making them EVEN smarter than the monkeys. When they escape and begin to organize, we’ll use our new telepathic/telekinetic powers to destroy them.
Movie’s running time: 22 minutes,
I think the people who plan to see this movie are in desperate need of that drug.
That is the sequel – Planet of the Apes crossed with X-Men.
The effects look too digital. They should have used Rob Bottin or practical chimp effects. This fully digital thing just still isn’t there, or, at least it isn’t there with what looks like it was a discount effects house and not top-shelf I.L.M. Also, is this what James Franco was getting his dissertation in at Yale?
Weta digital not enough for you? Good research though.
No, Weta Digital are not good enough. All of their stuff has an unreal, unemotional quality to it. Just look at King Kong, or the new Tin Tin nonsense.
“Weta digital are not good enough…”
Dear Fan,
If Weta is not good enough…you know nothing about Weta and their contributions to visual effects and their multiple Oscars for various projects including The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Avatar.
If the work Weta produces does not meet your visual effects standards for quality…I would like to know who does satisfy your keen eye for visual effects work?
Tom, I don’t know anything about what you’re speaking of but I do know that the monkeys in this trailer look very cartoonish as did the characters in Avatar (although I suppose that was the intenion in that overrated piece of shit).
Frankly, the apes from the original series were better. Just because it can be done, does not mean it should be done. It may be a VFX artist’s wet dream to make a fake monkey, but real people, prosthetics or models seem to generate a stronger emotional response in audiences. Despite all the money poured into the CGI ape, most people will look at it and think, “Fake monkey. Why should I give a damn?”
how can you see from such a high horse?
The fact remains that as good as VFX are now, especially coming out of Weta, ILM, and some others, they still look more like a video game than they do real “living” beings. It worked well for Lord of the Rings and Avatar because of the fantastical nature of those worlds. But when you drop that quality VFX into a film that seemingly takes place in the real world the “animated” characters just don’t fit in.
How about reserving visual effects for things that aren’t so obvious like matte shots, etc. This monkey thing ain’t working — and I don’t care WHO’s doing it.
Easily, because it’s a real horse, not some crappy CGI one.
Have you ever seen District 9 or Avatar on an HD screen? Because you couldn’t say that Weta is “not good enough” in that regard if you did. Obviously, you don’t know a damn fact about VFX and CGI by saying such wrong comment. Weta is actually a top notch VFX house, up par with ILM.
And talking about CGI “realness”, CGI characters in movies achieved photorealism for quite a while. For example, Davy Jones was so real that many thought that was prosthetic make up.
Cool trailer. But yes, it’s another visual metaphor for super viruses and human population weaknesses and aberrations that develop from overpopulation. Microbes can and will do us in good, it just won’t be interesting to watch in a movie like those with apes, or as fun. The truth of extinction is less dramatic and far more ugly.
see ya later $200mm.
what a disaster. just…wow.
If only there were more prepositions in the title!
No, they’re saving those for the sequels: “Return to Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Son of Return to Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 3D!!!!”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes that Destroyed the Careers Over at Fox.”
Looks Like “Gremlins 3: Monkey Glands.”
If the gorilla movie based on Michael Crichton’s “Congo” made north of $80 million at the box office, then I’m willing to bet that this CGI’d and polished ‘Planet of the Apes’ interpretation can out-monkey what ‘Congo’ did at the box office.
Hey, it could be worse in terms of monkey pics. At least no one’s out there talking about re-doing Tarzan …
…Oh, um, wait….
If Fox is going to make this a franchise, I hope Warners counters by making a film version of the D.C. comic KAMANDI. Yeah, it’s a ridiculous premise, but in for a penny, in for a pound.
Good post. I used to love that stupid comic when I was a little kid.
Where do all these apes come from? Does this magic brain potion make them reproduce in litters? Or does International Society of Apes and Monkeys (ISAM for short) happen to be having their annual convention in America when things get haywire? Since they aren’t indiginous to North America, I imagine they must be so smart that they learned to use Travelocity and chartered flights from Africa and Asia to be in the U.S. for the takeover. Well, welcome apes. Just be careful of sending your off-spring to public school or you’ll be back to being dumb again.
Ah ah, you almost made me cry! This is so, so damn true.
I love sci fi, you have to concede the film seems well shot, but unless they pull a magic trick I can’t see any of it making sense.
This is so missing the point and subtleties of the original movie… what a waste.
After watching this trailer, methinks Warners has a case against Fox. I could be wrong but I think the script is called Mercury Effect.
They should have used the amazing monkey acting CGI software for James Franco.
Maybe there’s an Ape for that.
You guys are great. Franco should stick to soap operas at best.
YES!
While I definitely prefer Heston’s Planet of the Apes, I didn’t think Burton’s was all THAT bad. This one looks decent, so I’ll probably catch it.
LOL at all of the plants talking about how much they love the CGI. Really?
Just an all around awful job here.
Clearly, there’s an Ape for that.
The CG is so convincing I couldn’t tell the ape from James Franco. Then it became clear: The ape is the one who can act.
How many of you guys complaining about the “ridiculous” premise are lining up to see TRANSFORMERS (or for that matter, ANY SUPERHERO MOVIE EVER MADE)?
No, the cgi apes don’t look 100% convincing- but they look like they can “act well” like a good cartoon character.Yeah, the idea of a small group of apes conquering the planet is far-fetched- but I doubt that the film will end that way (looks like more of a “first episode” to a potential new series).
Frankly, the film seems to be a throwback to the way sci-fi films USED to be- an off-beat premise, used metaphorically to explore real-world issues like animal rights and medical experimentation.
You know- a PLANET OF THE APES movie.
Okay, seriously? You don’t see the difference here? You don’t understand the core basis of science fiction. It’s about creating a coherent world using basic rules that differ from ours. New rule: there are robot civilisations in space, there is a man from another planet who can fly and stop bullets, we can travel through time etc. Once that is established we quit messing with it and build the world around it.
The basic rule of POTA (based on this trailer) is that you can make monkeys as smart as an American. We’re all ok with that, it sounds fun (and I, for one, think the effects look great). But where the f**k do all the monkeys come from once that happens??? And how can monkeys (as smart as they are) could ever take Human civilisation down with axes and strong legs?? Not seeing a major plot flaw is too forgiving. It just does not compute.
Now I’m curious to see how they step out of the sh*t they put themselves in, maybe they have a good explanation for it, but the trailer sure ain’t showing any at the moment.
I love how ANYBODY who likes this trailer is a “plant”, but Everybody who is negative is just a pure lover of cinema and protector of all that it cool. Give me a break. Some people just like it. Some people think it’s ambitious and different from the other stuff that will be out this summer. People playing apes using Motion Capture? Thats insane. Could be good, could be bad. Fox hires an interesting director, uses top of the line effects house, hires interesting actors and it’s still not good enough for the protectors of cool on the internet. What a joke!
You’re absolutely right. People have the right to enjoy really fake-looking CGI animals as much as they have a right to love the Muppets.
I think this would have been much better with Muppets, however. Now THAT’s something I’d like to see.
The story is retarded.
The apes expressions are impressive, and no, I don’t work for the studio.
However, the first half of the trailer asks: “Will they escape?” The second half answers, “Yes, they escape.” Now that the cat’s outta the bag, why would I go to see this? Just for the ape expressions? Methinks not.
Can’t wait for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2: Bananapocalypse”.
The producers are sure to slip up when it comes to this one…
Yeah, I’ve never seen a chimp smile.