'Rise Of the Planet of the Apes' Trailer Debuts; Reboot Seems Promising

COMMENTARY | The "Planet of the Apes" franchise has been dormant ever since Tim Burton's failed re-imagining in 2001. That version featured amazing make-up and costumes but was little more than a run of the mill action film with a head scratching ending.

This summer marks the latest attempt to revive the franchise, with the prequel/reboot "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." "Planet of the Apes" was only added to the title recently (it had previously just been "Rise of the Apes"), but now it's clear that 20th Century Fox wants to bank on the recognizable name as much as possible. The retitled sci-fi film now has its first trailer online for all to see.

The primary focus of this trailer seems to be establishing the story line for audiences. The trailer starts out in a medical facility and sets up James Franco's scientist character. Franco is working on ways to "repair brain function," so while it's not said explicitly, it sounds like he's working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Audiences see Franco selecting an ape test subject. This is followed shortly by the reveal that a side effect of the treatment is increased intelligence. This is the point when the trailer takes on darker overtones, starting to show apes rising up against humanity.

The basic premise of the film borrows from the fourth movie in the original series, 1972's "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes." In that film. apes as a species had been bred to increase their size and intelligence in order for them to be used as slaves. The ape revolution was led by Caesar, who was the child of two apes from the future (the same future that Charleton Heston unknowingly traveled to in the original "Planet of the Apes"). While the character of Caesar remains, all of the time travel has been dropped.

Caesar is now shown to be a genetic creation. While the origin of the character might be different, the result is still very much in keeping with the franchise. The "Planet of the Apes" series was always about showing the folly and flaws of humanity and what happens when we tamper with things we can't control. The original films put a great deal of emphasis on atomic and nuclear technologies. In many ways, genetics is the new atomic science: a growing field with great potential for both grand triumphs and horrific failures.

One of the interesting aspects to the trailer for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is that it seems to be portraying the apes as almost a horror-movie style villain. Text cards proclaiming "Our greatest discovery will become our greatest threat" certainly adds to the feeling that the apes are something to be feared. This is an interesting departure from "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" because in that film the audience was actually encouraged to root for the apes to overthrow the humans who had abused and mistreated them.

There are indicators of some abusive characters in this new film, for instance Brian Cox's line "They're not people you know" is quite foreboding. However, these characters seem to be the clear minority of the humans shown. There are many cut away shots of what appear to be innocent potential victims of the ape uprising. It's possible that the trailer is opting for this horror film feel because it's an easier sell. The film itself may be more complicated when it comes to which characters are meant to be heroes and which are meant to be villains.

There is also a slightly odd and potentially troubling aspect to the trailer. Rather than touting the actors or the original series or the director, the film proclaims the involvement of Weta, the effects studio that worked on "Avatar." Bringing focus to the effects studio in a trailer is the sort of thing a studio would usually do if the film wasn't any good and it needs to point out any possible highlights. It doesn't help that immediately after the text card about Weta there is a shot of a gorilla who looks more than a little like 2005's "King Kong" (which Weta also worked on).

Luckily, though, things seem to get back track by the end with a long lingering shot of Caesar, played by Andy Serkis. As with his portrayal of Gollum for "Lord of the Rings" films, Serkis was onset and provided motion capture for the role, but the visual result on the screen is a purely computer generated creation. Many were skeptical that Caesar simply wouldn't work, but the final shot of the trailer proves otherwise. The character manages to look convincing overall as well as both appropriately ape-like and oddly human in a way that is fittingly unsettling.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" arrives in theaters Aug. 5. Fox has a potential franchise starter on its hands should the film do well; the original series spawned four sequels and a television show. Fans are hoping for something more meaningful than the puzzling 2001 film, and from the initial trailer it looks like they may just get what they want.