3.5 stars out of 5
I began my review of 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes by calling it “quite entertaining but also tremendously stupid” and ended the review by saying “I will see the sequel, however. Oop oop.”
Well, guess what I saw last night? (No, not Boyhood. Good guess, though!) And I am happy to report that, in terms of plot and writing, I found the sequel to be far superior to the original (well, rebooted prequel or whatever the hell Rise was), while also remaining highly entertaining on the action/adventure front.
So why so stingy with the stars, Silbert? Aw relax, it’s just a talkin’ monkey movie. This ain’t supposed to be high art. Actually, that the film has some loftier goals is both a strength and a weakness. Because a lot of it is talky and sensitive— “Can humans and apes share an apartment without driving each other crazy?” —and this stuff is important to the story, handled well, and if you’re bringing the kids, hey, you get some pocket-size “morality lessons” to bring home. But, this touchy-feely content feels like it goes on FOREVER and I found myself thinking, “Jeez, I wouldn’t mind seeing some chimps go absolutely ape-shit right about now.”
Jason Clarke is the lead here and really helps prevent things from getting too stupid. (You probably remember him from Zero Dark Thirty. In that review, I said he “displays a quiet strength and comes across as a workingman’s McConaughey.”) In this movie he is the voice of reason and is very believable and sympathetic. In other words, he seems like a real, uh… human. I have already gone on record as saying I’m a big Keri Russell fan and she does decent work here as the love-the-one-you’re-with girlfriend who is not too shabby with a first-aid kit. (After the fact, I wondered why there weren’t any strong female ape characters around. Oh well, maybe in part 3, or 4, or 5….) Gary Oldman is pretty good as a not-too-confident guy in charge. Ol’ hot-tempered Miguel Alvarez from Oz is also a hot-tempered dude in this. Andy Serkis thinks he’s in the movie but he’s really not. (Burn!)
It took me several minutes to get into the CGI groove—early on there are a bunch of CGI apes and CGI elks or something and then a CGI bear shows up and it was all too fakey all at once for me. But once I got over that hump the apes are once again pretty cool. (One exception is a super-computery-lookin’ baby ape that really breaks the “reality” of one scene.) Post-ape-ocalyptic San Francisco is visually very impressive as well. And the action shifts into high gear toward the end for a satisfying battle.
I won’t ruin the ending, but suffice to say that it’s one of those modern “there’s going to be another sequel so we can’t really wrap things up” deals. Ah well! See you monkeys again in 2016.
Jack Silbert, curator