I have seen the four seconds of movie shown in the small teaser for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, which can be viewed on the movie’s official Facebook page.
The footage shows an ape (is it Caesar? Is it another ape?) looking sullen and obviously profusely thinking or plotting. The CGI done by Weta Labs is impressive and could perhaps make the story much more effective (and creepier) than it’s ever been. However, that kind of praise is probably best reserved until after the rest of the footage comes out Wednesday.
But, I’ll say that the chimpanzee’s face gives me the same feelings of awe and the willies that I get when I go see the apes at the zoo. You can see their very human emotions in their faces very well, and it reiterates the point that we aren’t that far away from our ape brethren. This, to me, is also why the “Apes” saga is such a compelling piece of sci-fi, and it would appear that 20th Century Fox is trying to keep that compelling streak in the story alive.
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, will be in theaters August 5. What do you think of the small teaser?