Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Different director and mainly different actor’s set the sequel to the first of the reboot of the original Planet of the Apes series, 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes apart from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). This latest in the series is set ten years after the end of the first movie and we find the remains of humanity struggling to cope with the aftermath of the plague and to stay alive. To hold civilisation together the humans need electric power and the defunct power plant is in the middle of ape territory!  The intelligent community of apes are still lead by Caesar (again played by Andy Serkis) who begins to loose control after giving permission for the humans to access the power plant, but not all members of the ape community are happy with Caesar’s decision.

 

If you go down to the woods today your sure of a big surprise!

As well as Serkis the film stars Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver who were involved in the first of the rebooted series with the addition of Mark Bomback who is also the executive producer. Matt Reeves, who was responsible for directing Cloverfield (2008) and the English language version of Let The Right One In (2008) is a good replacement for Robert Wyatt and is also set to direct the third film in the franchise War for the Planet of the Apes.

 

A little sentimentality goes a long way.

Similar to Rise of the Planet of the Apes we get another example of some first class escapist entertainment but underlyingly the story highlights the way so called ‘superior classes’ treat people when they don’t always understand their way of life and their different beliefs - so look beyond the obvious narrative to get the best out of this movie.

There looking forward to the next film.

Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll.

Sex and drugs and rock and roll. Is all my brain and body need. Sex and drugs and rock and roll. Are very good indeed. The immortal words of the Billericay Bard. There are more than enough reasons to be cheerful watching Andy Serkis become Ian Dury in the film Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll (2010). I’ll quote Phillip French because I think he sums up Serkis’s performance in his review of this mesmerising film ‘What holds the film together is the performance of Andy Serkis. His resemblance to Dury is simple uncanny, both in appearance, the body language, the growling voice and the singing. More important, though, is the way he captures Dury’s mercurial nature, the contradictions of his character and the uncontrollable impulses that drove him’ Serkis does not portray Ian Dury, he becomes Ian Dury, it’s a masterful performance and should have won him the BAFTA for Best Actor. The film covers a period from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s. Dury’s early life is shown in a series of flashbacks including the crucial episode in his life when, at the age of nine, swimming at Southend on Sea, he contracted the debilitating disease polo. The stories narrative is driven via a series of Ian Dury and the Blockheads greatest hits. Animated interludes and the credit titles are courtesy of the great artist Peter Blake. Blake, best known for the design of the sleeve for the Sgt Peppers album, was one of Dury’s art teachers at the Royal College of Art in the 60’s. I really enjoyed the style of the film; it perfectly suited the story. Lots of British talent on show, but I must say I was impressed, again, with the young Bill Milner ( Son of Rambow, Is Anybody There) who brilliantly portrays Baxter, Dury’s son.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Let me state I do not object to movies with a lengthy running time, but what I do object to is one that is exceptional drawn out with each scene stretched to its limit, which would make any film monotonous and soporific. But to actually attempt to adapt a book that’s barely more than 270 pages into three films with a total running time of nearly nine hours is, I would suggest, a foolhardy task. Of course I’m not saying its impossible but your adaption would need to be absorbing and extremely interesting to maintain interest for that length of time. For example Oliver Assayas brilliant story of Carlos the Jackal, Carlos (2010) weights at 330 minutes, Ingmar Bergman masterful family drama Fanny and Alexander (1982) is well worth staying the course at 312 minutes, as is Sion Sono’s tale of lust and religion Love Exposure (2008) at 237 minutes, and need we forget Fassbinder’s Berlin Alexandeplatz (1981) which is the longest single narrative and well worth a watch at 15 hours. Where is this wee rant leading too, Peter Jackson’s latest middle earth adventure, all 170 minutes of it? The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), which deals with the happenings before Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The wizard Gandalf enters Bilbo Baggins hole in the ground.

The young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is enticed to leave his comfortable hole in the ground by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and go on a long and arduous journey with a band of 13 dwarves lead by Thorin (Richard Armitage) who wish to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug a very large and fierce dragon. They encounter various adventures on their way the most enjoyable being when Bilbo Baggins meets the creepy Gollum, played in motion capture by Andy Serkis, a scene that really does ‘capture’ your imagination.

The intricate detail, eye watering CGI and the beautiful cinematography, elevating the New Zealand countryside to something beyond belief, does not make up for an excitement deficiency. If this film had a severe haircut by editor Jabez Olssen with a reduction in running time to approximately two hours then we could have had a fantasy adventure drama that did not feel like a cure for insomnia. There’s no way that I, and many others I imagine, will be prepared to sit for another six hours of Jackson’s indulgent filmmaking.

Bilbo meets Gollum.

Rise of The Planet of The Apes.

The original Planet of The Apes was released in 1968 and told the story of how a space ship crash-landed on a strange planet in the distant future. The planet appeared at first to be uninhabited but the three surviving crewmembers stumble upon a society in which apes had evolved into intelligent creatures. These human like apes are now the dominant species with the original humans dressed in animal skins and mute! This story was based on a 1963 French novel La Planete des Singes by Pierre Boulle and the movie was directed by Tokyo born Franklin J Schaffner whose oeuvre includes Patton (1970) and The Boys From Brazil (1978). The main recognisable face in this original movie was the gun loving Charlton Heston who was mainly known for appearances in historical epics like Ben-Hur (1959) and The Ten Commandments (1956). After re watching this film I can’t imagine why it’s ranked as a “classic”? It has a slow plodding story line that seems to take for ever to get to the point, its completely devoid of excitement in fact it’s tedious, the budget appears non existent and as for Heston himself, a wooded post would have more personality and come to think of it have more acting prowess. Four more films followed in this particular franchise and judging by the trailers were worse than the initial film.

They have now rebooted the franchise with the recent release of a prequel Rise of The Planet of The Apes (2011). Directed by the 38 year old British born American resident Rupert Wyatt whose previous film was his debut Escapist (2008) it starred Brian Cox who played a convict 12 years into a life sentence with no hope of parole.  He develops an ingenious escape plan to allow him to regain contact with his estranged daughter who has fallen ill, recruiting a desperate band of fellow prisoners to help in his endeavours.  That film had a brilliant structure and a clever narrative.

Andy Serkis!

Wyatt’s new film challenges the reason for the downfall of mankind intimated in the original 1968 version. This time it’s not an arms race that places the apes in the ascendancy but mankind’s quest to discover a drug to cure Alzheimer’s. Scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) develops a gene-therapy drug to repair the human brain. His main guinea pig is an ape called Bright Eyes and when she runs amok every one assumes it’s the effects of the drugs and the trials are cancelled. Rodman soon discovers that Bright Eyes is pregnant and that she was only protecting her newly born child. He then proceeds to take the infant home and names him Caesar. As the youngster grows up he begins to show a high intelligence level and this is when our story really begins.

Freida Pinto and James Franco.

Using modern technology known as performance or motion capture which refers to recording actions of human actors, and using that information to animate digital characters meant that Andy Serkis could play Caesar without resorting to an hairy ape costume. The same technology allowed him to play King Kong (2005) and Gollum in the Lord of The Rings Franchise. What a difference 43 years makes? We now have an example of first class escapist entertainment with never a dull moment. The movie’s just the right length, has some decent acting from our two main stars also from Freida Pinto and Brian Cox, obviously a sizable budget and a very engaging storyline. It may be too late to see it at your local cinema but I imagine it we be available on DVD fairly soon.

Burke and Hare

Burke and Hare.

What makes a good film or at least one you can enjoy? My stock answer to this question would normally be ‘a good story, well told’. But I admit this is not always the case, for example sometimes it’s just that a particular film makes you laugh. Burke and Hare (2010) did just that and not only me, it was great to hear the RBC audience laughing out loud.

This Ealing Studio production announced itself by stating ‘This is a true story except for the parts that are not’ which sets the tone for the whole film! This black comedy is directed by John Landis, his first feature film release for twelve years, and is based on the notorious West Port murders that took place in Edinburgh between November 1827 and October 1828. The killings were attributed to two Ulstermen, William Burke and William Hare, who, it was alleged, sold their 17 victims to provide cadavers for Doctor Robert Knox to dissect for the study and teaching of anatomy to his students at the Edinburgh Medical College.

Amongst the many well-known names that appear in this movie Simon Pegg appears as Burke, Andy Serkis as Hare with Tom Wilkinson as the ‘good’ Doctor Knox. With cameos from the likes of Bill Bailey, Tim Curry, Sir Christopher Lee, Ronnie Corbett, Paul Whitehouse and Jenny Agutter. An enjoyable and relaxed evening at the cinema.