I watched the original Planet of the Apes again after Rise and was amusingly reminded of the Hestonian overacting (see above), clunky fight choreography, fembots and stiff ape masks. But POTA's greatness was never in its delivery. Like other era classics -- Star Trek, Soilent Green, even Logan's Run -- it was all about the clever premise, in POTA's case: What if man, conqueror of the world, became man, conquered?
Rise ain't the pinnacle of cinematic achievement either -- though the effects are damn good. Its strength rests in how well it fills in the POTA story and the clever ways it pays homage to the original -- from "Bright Eyes" and "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" to glimpses of the fated space mission that's sent to Simian-controlled Earth 2,000 years later.
If you never saw the original, Rise of the Planet of the Apes will bore you. If you're a fan of the classic, though, it's like a peanut treat at the zoo -- if you're a monkey, that is.
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