3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, for intense sci-fi violence and action, and brief profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 7.11.14
Given the long list of entries on
the Hollywood odds-makers’ tote boards, the chances of a second cycle of Apes movies must’ve been the darkest of horses.
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| Malcolm (Jason Clarke, foreground) tries to forge an uneasy alliance with, from left, Caesar (motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis), Koba (Toby Kebbell) and Maurice (Karin Konoval), none of whom have much reason to trust humans. |
And yet here we are, four decades
later, three films into another incarnation of Pierre Boulle’s seminal sci-fi
novel, re-shaped for a new global order.
If the original five films — from
1968’s Planet of the Apes to 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes —
felt like a thinly disguised commentary on the American civil rights struggle,
this new series clearly speaks to the sadly intransient warfare between Israel
and Palestine, or Shiite and Sunni, or any of half a dozen other
sectarian-driven hot spots throughout the world.
And, as often is true of
parables, there’s little comfort to be derived from this fantasy-laden
depiction of such conflict. Some battles seem doomed to continue for eternity,
despite the best efforts of noble heroes on both sides.
Tim Burton probably didn’t have
such high-falutin’ notions in mind, when he remade the original Planet of the
Apes in 2001. No doubt that’s why 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes adopted a fresh approach, with director Rypert Wyatt and scripters Rick Jaffa
and Amanda Silver telling a thoughtful story about the desperate — and foolish
— measures that can be prompted by grief. (One hopes the impetuous scientist
given a template in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein remains mostly
a figure of cautionary fable, lest we foolish mortals get ourselves into even
more serious trouble.)
Jaffa and Silver have returned
for this sequel (threequel?), with a scripting assist from Mark Bomback, while
Matt Reeves takes over the director’s chair. The result isn’t quite as relentlessly
heartbreaking as was the case with Rise, nor does this new film play the
human-beings-are-cruel-thugs card quite as often (for which I’m grateful).
That said, matters have moved in
the grim direction foretold by the previous film’s cliffhanger conclusion, with
a highly contagious (and woefully misnamed) “simian flu” wiping out all but a
few scattered remnants of humanity. The ape colony founded in Northern
California’s Muir Woods by Caesar, the previous film’s chimpanzee hero, has
thrived; the hyper-intelligent chimps, gorillas and orangutans have built a
vibrant community devoted to the democratic notion that all apes are to be
cherished as equals.
And they’ve wondered, as numerous
winters have passed, if human beings have wiped themselves out completely.
