Planet of the apes movie review

Planet of the apes movie review

There are a variety of characters in the movie Planet of the apes (2011). They are divided into those that are human and those that are apes. Among the apes are Caesar, Maurice, Rocket, Buck, Cornelia, Alpha, Koba. These apes are of different monkey species. Caesar, Cornelia, Alpha, Rocket are chimpanzees, Maurice is an orangutan, Buck a gorilla and Koba, a bonobo. Among the human characters are Dr. William Rodman, Dr. Caroline Aranha, Charles Rodman, John Landon, Dodge Landon, Steve Jacobs., Robert Franklin, Rodney, Hunisker and Irene. In the movie, the main protagonist is Caesar, and the main antagonist is Dr. William “Will” Rodman. The film centers around the life of the orphaned Caesar, who grows up in Dr. William’s laboratory. Caesar is an offspring of chimpanzees used to test an experimental Alzheimer’s drug. Caesar’s mother was killed as a result of her violent tendencies after exposure to this Alzheimer’s drug. Caesar, however, does not exhibit these violent behaviours and is as intelligent as humans. Caesar is the leader of the apes. Having grown up around humans, he is sympathetic towards them and does not view them as all evil. Koba is very suspicious of humans and sees them as evil. Caesar is a round character that Possesses the multidimensional qualities of actual people.

IN the book Planet of the Apes (1968), there are varied characters too. However, here, the apes in the Earth-like planet Betelgeuse are depicted as being more intelligent than humans. Humans are held captive by apes, and those that have escaped such captivity live in the underbrush and naked. They are involved in the hunting party of clothed, talking, civilized apes. The apes shoot and capture humans, even intelligent visitors to this planet. The main protagonist here is Ulysse, who accompanies a wealthy professor Antelle and Levain on a privately funded expedition to this planet. The antagonist here is Zaius, who directs the research lab where the humans are tested and researched by the apes. On arrival to this planet, Ulysse meets a woman Nova whom he is placed in a cage with. He mates with her. Due to Ulysse’s intelligence Zira, an ape, is drawn to him. Apes in this planet are divided based on their talents and functions. They are the orangutans, who are obsessed with honours and distinctions in science, chimpanzees, who are sensitive and creative, and gorillas who are hunters and guards.

In both the movie and the book, there is a conflict involved between humans and apes. In the film, humans have oppressed the apes and subjected them to scientific research, while in the book, the apes have dominated humans and subjected them to experimentation in laboratories. However, despite this misunderstanding between the humans and apes, there are those trying to cross this divide and understand the other side. In the book, this is seen as the platonic relationship between Ulysse, who is a human, and Ziro, an ape. In the movie, this is seen in the relationship between Dr. William and Ceasar. Such characters can be said to be developing characters. Due to the ongoing conflicts, some characters are motivated by distrust to exacerbate this situation. This is depicted by characters such as Zaius in the book and Koba in the movie. Such characters can be said to be static characters.

The setting of the movie Rise of Planet of the Apes occurs in an atomized environment between apes and humans. Here humans have held apes’ captives and abused them, often killing them when they react as is seen with the killing of Caesar’s mother. Those humans that deal directly with the apes have, however, developed sympathy towards the monkeys, as is the case with Rodney and Dr. William. The apes are live in divided groups such as chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos. Humans are divided into classes based on the jobs they do. The humans view apes as barbaric ad violent. Therefore, they have caged them. The apes view humans with suspicion, as is the case with Koba. However, there are outliers that have different views of the other group, as is the relationship between Dr will and Caesar.

In the book, the apes rule humans and have subjected them to scientific experimentation. Here the apes are depicted to be more intelligent than humans. Humans live and roam around naked. They also live in bushes. On arrival to the planet, Ulysses and the professor witness the conflict as the apes wantonly hunt humans. Those that survive the shooting are taken to zoos or research laboratories. Under the tyranny of the apes, humans walk to the city wearing a leash and a chain, as seen with the case of Ulysse. This is what happens to apes in the movie The Rise of Planet of the Apes (2011). On this planet, too, the apes are divided into social classes based on their talents and functions. The orangutans are obsessed with honours and distinctions in science, chimpanzees brilliant and creative, and the gorillas are hunters, guards and businessmen.

The sociocultural context in which the book and the movie take place helps understand the functions and roles of the various characters. Self-perception can be moulded by cultural views, as is seen in the roles various types of apes are thought to be good at. Those apes that have grown up in a hostile environment with humans are seen to be suspicious when dealing with humans. This is the case with Koba. Those humans that have lived long around apes are sympathetic towards apes, as is the case with the relationship between Dr. William and Caesar. Zira develops a relationship with Ulysse because of his intelligence. They eventually learn each other’s language, therefore, encouraging intercultural intercourse. This cooperation leads to the freeing of Ulysse after he delivers a speech to the ape assembly in ape language. He liberates himself from being taken to the brain laboratory to be turned into a vegetable. He embarks on a mission to free his fellow humans by teaching them to talk the ape language in vain.

Planet of the Apes was released in 1968, and ever since the first film was made, those involved have always wanted to move a notch higher and hence improve. Most of these improvements happen in the production of the 2011 movie “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” With the evolution of technology and its incorporation into film making, the dynamics have changed. The movie “Rise of the planet of apes” is a perfect example of how films are made in the modern era as appose to the first film “Planet of the Apes.” Rise of the Planet of the Apes offers many discussion points, and these range from the cinematography to the message being passed in the film.

The cinematography aspect of this film involves many elements, and the first of them is the film stock. The film stock in this movie is a commendable one, and this is justified by how smooth the transitions in the entire film are. While watching Planet of the Apes, it is also evident that the lenses used, and the lighting is up to standards. The definition in the final picture has also earned recognition for being top of the bar and hence seconding the fact that the lenses and the lighting of this movie in its entirety were qualitative. It is also important to point out that other aspects of cinematography used in this movie, which included camera angles, frames and camera movements, among others, were top notch. A perfect example of this is how possible it was to take long shots, and in the grand scheme of things, they all amounted to perfect cinematography work. In general terms, the look from a cinematography point is as good as it can get in the modern filmmaking world.

One moment in the film is at minute 46:00 when Koba tries to address other apes aggressively, but in both actions and expressions, it didn’t look like he was angry or even sad at all. It is essential to, therefore, underline the fact that these actions, passed a different message and in this case, confusing the viewer on what exactly is the tone of the message being passed by the character.

In the film, there are closeup shots that are supposed to bring out emotion and focus on what the character in the frame is trying to convey. These angles and shots aim to make sure that the intended feeling and tone in a scene is achieved. Time and again, when Caesar is showing any emotional or sentimental thing to a fellow ape, the camera angles are always above his head and on a close-up. This is done to help draw the emotional side of any action the character is conveying. In minute 54:00, there is a low angle shot by the cinematographer, and what this does is it makes the character in the frame more focused. With this kind of focus and at this particular angle, it is then easier to understand the intended message and emotion from a given scene, and this is paramount through the film, “Rise of the planets of apes.”

Furthermore, in the movie, they have described the position of power or being weak with camera work. For example, in scene 23:00, there is a high angle shot on Caesar to make him look less powerful then Will and to ask his permission. On the other hand, in scene 57:24 When Koba and the other Apes submits to Caesar and declare him as their leader, there is a low angle shot on Caesar to show his position of power.

A human footprint found in by Ulysse, Antelle and Levain is an indication of the existence of human life on the planet of Soror. The deep squabbles between the humans and the apes are indications of societal upheavals that were experienced in the twentieth century. These include world wars, nuclear threats, cold war, ethnic warfare and future imperial supremacy wars. These have divided and scarred humans. The book was particularly written in 1968 at a time when America was deeply involved in the Vietnam war and at the time of countercultural movements in the United States. The warring parties in these movements can be viewed as the apes and humans in the novel or the movie. Ideological and ethnic divisions result in people speaking in different languages where each party seeks to dehumanize the other, viewing the other as brutish, uncivilized and deserving cruelty. Cruelty in the movie and book is depicted as capture and being subjected to scientific experimentation. Dehumanization, through the use of different languages, is described as the use of human language and ape language. There is no understanding between the humans and the apes.

The class stratification in the ape planet symbolizes the class warfare in the modern world brought about by wealth inequality. Different classes of apes perform different roles, and social perceptions have reinforced such views such as chimpanzees are brilliant and creative, and the gorillas are hunters, guards and businessmen. These views ossify within the cultural sphere, most often discouraging members of a group from pursuing a passion since members from that group may not be perceived as being good at that role. In modern society, this leads to unequal distribution and representation of people in important areas of society, such as politics. A good example would be the issue of women representation in politics and the gender pay gap in male-dominated careers such as engineering or corporate leadership. An ossified elite may be too rigid and repulsed by the change to the detriment of society.

The relationships built between the apes and humans, such as Ulysse and Zira and Dr. William and Caesar that transcend the conflicting parties, are used to indicate that common ground is possible between the opposing groups in the world. Finding a middle ground is more fruitful than an all-out war. Characters such as Dr. William and Caesar that act as intermediaries symbolize institutions such as the United Nations that have peaceful arbitrated issues between countries and have ended world wars. Other organizations that have helped spearhead peace and understanding are the national courts that promote justice and solve conflicts among individuals and corporations. Without peace and unity, the human race is doomed to eternal chaos or even extinction through nuclear warfare.

Lighting forms a very big part of the mise en scene. Low-level lighting is used for intense dramatic scenes, horror and mystery films because it looks well perfectly fits into this dramatic conflict between humans and apes. This is utilized in the Rise of the Planet of Apes in the fighting scenes where the apes attack the police on their way to the forest. Low-level lighting is used when Caesar begins to understand how different he is. This continues into having him thrown into a cage where he is abused too. High-level lighting is mainly used in office scenes or the laboratories. It is also used in scenes that show progress, happiness and relationships. While Caesar is young and in a good relationship with Dr. William, high-level lighting is continuously used. Due to the rise of technology, a combination of computer graphics and motion picture was used in the film. The directors used monochrome cameras and were able to edit where and when necessary successfully. The lighting was also controlled when making the film. These lighting techniques are used to contribute to the themes of the film by visually showing the ups and downs of the film. They help the audience anticipate and feel the emotions of the protagonist through colour. Lighting helps foreshadow the struggle that apes and humans will endure during power changes. The movement of the apes is conveyed through computer-generated images for spectacle and make up for slow scenes.