A decade ago, how to do reboots right.
In large part, the success of the reboot trilogy was a matter of perfect timing. After James Franco and featuring motion capture from that-guy-who-played-Gollum could still succeed as a major summer hit. And it did.
While the overall pitch for Rise of the Planet of the Apes was relatively simple, its status as both remake and prequel presented some interesting twists to the franchise formula. Rather than just “modernize” the look and feel of the classics – like the Daniel Craig 007 films or Disney’s Star Wars sequels – Rise made fundamental changes to the series’ style and structure. Not a sci-fi odyssey, but a pseudo-medical thriller. No corny, fantastical apes suits, but cutting edge CGI. And rather than focus on a forced human-driven story, the reboot films made the apes front and center from the beginning. The trilogy has been praised for its commercial success, artistic merit, technological significance, and narrative depth. But what is it that made this reboot, of a franchise no one was really asking to come back, work so well?
Planet Of The Apes Is A Deeply Personal Story
Planet of the Apes is Caesar’s story. It starts with his birth, and ends with his death. That complete arc is strikingly singular, but it’s also full of individual moments of difficulty and growth – Caesar discovering the outside world, the good and bad of humans, and his own unique identity; Caesar taking on the responsibilities of a leader, a father, and a symbol to his people; Caesar fighting to balance a desire for peace with a desire for vengeance.
The reboot trilogy, especially the latter two films, have often been described as “Shakespearean.” While part of that is certainly due to their broader themes of loyalty, betrayal, and revenge, a lot of the series’ classically epic feel comes from how detailed and fully-earned Caesar’s story is. He develops in three distinct ways at the same time – as an animal becoming more and more human, as a growing leader given more and more responsibility, and as a man contending with his own growing losses and regrets. Each one of these arcs would be enough to carry a story, and taken together they create a unique, compelling protagonist.
In many cases with a major franchise reboot, the emphasis is put too much on the brand, and not enough on crafting a new, interesting story. Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, for instance, received a good deal of criticism for forcing retcons and references to the original Alien movies, while not having enough of a compelling new story that could stand on its own. While that’s far from the only issue with Prometheus, Planet of the Apes shows how prioritizing new interesting stories and compelling original characters over adherence to the franchise's past can yield a more successful reboot.
Planet Of The Apes Prioritizes Character Development
In addition to Caesar, Planet of the Apes boasts a large cast of distinct and interesting characters. There’s Rocket, the warrior, who goes from Caesar’s tormentor to his closest friend. There’s Maurice, who acts as Caesar’s wise and measured council as the ape society develops. There’s Koba, whose loyalty to his friends is exceeded only by his hatred of humans, which is ultimately his undoing. And that’s just to name a few.
Like Caesar, the ape characters grow steadily and convincingly over the course of the trilogy. Even though most of them rarely ever speak, they still develop powerful relationships and motivations. It’s also fascinating to watch the ape characters develop more and more personality from film to film, gradually pushing the human characters to the periphery of the story as villains or side characters, while the apes themselves adopt more and more humanity.
Many reboots assume that the world of the franchise itself is enough to make people care about the story, but that isn’t always the case. The Jurassic World series, for instance, has received praise for its dinosaur action and ties to the original movies, but criticism for a lack of compelling new characters. Planet of the Apes earns the viewer's investment in the broader world by prioritizing the characters and making them matter.
Planet Of The Apes Pulls From Many Different Genres
Rise of the Planet of the Apes fits pretty neatly into the disaster movie category, with a bit of action thrown in at the end. This in itself is a notable departure from the far-future, sci-fi fantasy extravaganza of the original films, but it’s at least easily labeled. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, however, is a lot harder to nail down. It has action, sure, but not consistently. It takes place after an apocalyptic event, but only the humans' story feels post-apocalyptic. It’s a drama really, on an epic scale, about warring factions, family and loyalty. But it’s also science fiction, and a lot of other things.
War for the Planet of the Apes adds even more into the mix, with fair shares of action and war movies, and a heaping helping of western. This blending of genres keeps the movies fresh and distinct from one another, but it does more than that. By opening up the genre and avoiding tropes and rigid labels, Apes lets the style adapt to the story, rather than the other way around. For instance, in a spy movie, there are only so many stories you can tell. They’re the “spy stories.” But because Planet of the Apes is so hard to pin down, it keeps its narrative potential wide open.
This is a big part of the reason why The Mandalorian and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are less polarizing than the Disney Star Wars sequels – they aren't limited stylistically by what Star Wars is “supposed” to be. It’s part of why Guardians of the Galaxy and Spiderman: Homecoming were so successful in the MCU, because they broke out of the Marvel formula. By operating outside the rigid sci-fi tropes of the original Planet of the Apes series, the reboot trilogy manages to break new, original, authentic ground, instead of being beholden to simply filling in the blanks of genre expectation.
Planet Of The Apes' CGI Is Stunning, But Not Distracting
Though the technology has certainly gotten better, there was a time when blockbusters were marked by unnecessary and overly bombastic special effects. It’s what plagued Michael Bay's reputation, in everything from Optimus Prime’s weird lips to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Compare Gareth Edwards’s 2014 Godzilla with the sequel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters – the first film, while far from perfect, uses CGI more tactfully. Godzilla is a spectacle, but he’s shown with restraint – a tail, a leg, spine – before being fully revealed. The first atomic fire breath shot is an amazing moment specifically because of the slow build. There is power in that restraint – something harder to find in the last few reboots of King Kong, or The Mummy.
Planet of the Apes has bombastic moments to be sure – the climax of War and Koba’s mounted attack on the human colony in Dawn stand out – but most of the effects are used to less dramatic effect. Most notable, of course, are the apes themselves, whose facial expressions and mannerisms by the third film are staggering in their simple authenticity. But it’s more than that. It’s the landscape shots. It’s the force with which Caesar throttles Koba when he questions his leadership. It’s Koba and Blue Eyes standing with their village burning behind them. It’s CGI that carries emotional weight and tells a story, not just visual spectacle.
Planet Of The Apes Is Truly Unique
Ultimately, the Planet of the Apes reboots succeed because they stand alone. In the realm of non-R-rated blockbusters, only the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy feels like an apt comparison point, and even those movies aren’t that similar stylistically or structurally. Hunger Games shares some similarities. Lord of the Rings overlaps a bit even, at least more so than the MCU, DCEU, Star Wars, Star Trek, or Fast & Furious. But there’s no true counterpart – not even the original films being rebooted.
That’s not to say they’re perfect, or that they don’t still fall into their fair share of tropes. The human-centric parts of Rise of the Planet of the Apes can be middling, the sequels can get a bit heavy-handed with their Shakespearean themes, and the few female characters who are present do little more than give birth and stand in the background. But they also manage to create something new in an area of the film world that very rarely allows for new ideas. Blockbusters and reboots of major franchises are dictated largely by the status quo of what sells, by necessity of their massive budgets. But Apes reached outside of that bubble, and it was still a critical and box office hit.
There’s more than one way to bring a classic back, and Planet of the Apes shouldn’t necessarily be the model for every attempt. The latest batch of Mission: Impossible films shows how classics can stay relevant without changing much of their core DNA. But in the midst of an era defined in large part by remakes and reboots, Planet of the Apes dared to be different, giving us a trilogy of films that are stunning, gorgeous, and deeply personal. There may never be another blockbuster series quite like Planet of the Apes.
