It's always great to have surprise releases like Skyrim that weren't on my Most Anticipated list for 2011 turn out to be some of the year's best work, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes took me aback on a whole different level altogether. I hadn't been a fan of the Apes franchise before now, yet in Rise I found an utterly captivating engagement with the events surrounding GenSys and the accidentally intelligent primate Caesar. Unlike most movie teams, 20th Century Fox allowed the writers to fully develop Caesar's own rise from a tortured captive to a revolutionary leader, making for a mystifying experience whereby the audience is forced to fall in love with the animal, beautifully brought to life by CGI and Andy Serkis (who really deserves an Oscar for his facial work here, it has to be seen to be believed!), so that by the moving conclusion to his character arc, we are rooting completely for his faction yet still brought close to tears as his human friend realised that "Caesar is home." and accepted that they must part ways. That there were even segments which relied on subtitles to show us what the apes were saying with their use of sign language was a daring move on director Robert Wyatt's part, but it's one that totally pays off, and goes some way to making Caesar's actions seem all the more apt and justified later on. Wyatt, James Franco and Andy Serkis have essentially kick-started a huge new franchise with an emotive, action-packed bang in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a masterclass in filmic storytelling that teaches even the greats like Yates (Deathly Hallows) and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) how it's done. Take note, because as long as the sequel sheds some of its little predictable 'tough American' scenes and maintains a focus on its titular primates, we may have stumbled onto something every bit as successful as the adventures of the Boy Who Lived and the Fellowship of the Ring! So, there you have it, my Film of the Year award goes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes- now it's up to the producers, directors and actors of 2012 to top it!...
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Saturday 24 December 2011
Film Of The Year 2011: Editor's Choice
It's always great to have surprise releases like Skyrim that weren't on my Most Anticipated list for 2011 turn out to be some of the year's best work, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes took me aback on a whole different level altogether. I hadn't been a fan of the Apes franchise before now, yet in Rise I found an utterly captivating engagement with the events surrounding GenSys and the accidentally intelligent primate Caesar. Unlike most movie teams, 20th Century Fox allowed the writers to fully develop Caesar's own rise from a tortured captive to a revolutionary leader, making for a mystifying experience whereby the audience is forced to fall in love with the animal, beautifully brought to life by CGI and Andy Serkis (who really deserves an Oscar for his facial work here, it has to be seen to be believed!), so that by the moving conclusion to his character arc, we are rooting completely for his faction yet still brought close to tears as his human friend realised that "Caesar is home." and accepted that they must part ways. That there were even segments which relied on subtitles to show us what the apes were saying with their use of sign language was a daring move on director Robert Wyatt's part, but it's one that totally pays off, and goes some way to making Caesar's actions seem all the more apt and justified later on. Wyatt, James Franco and Andy Serkis have essentially kick-started a huge new franchise with an emotive, action-packed bang in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a masterclass in filmic storytelling that teaches even the greats like Yates (Deathly Hallows) and Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) how it's done. Take note, because as long as the sequel sheds some of its little predictable 'tough American' scenes and maintains a focus on its titular primates, we may have stumbled onto something every bit as successful as the adventures of the Boy Who Lived and the Fellowship of the Ring! So, there you have it, my Film of the Year award goes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes- now it's up to the producers, directors and actors of 2012 to top it!...
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