" Rise of the Planet of the Apes: New World " I have finished watching.
ordinary cinema, 145 minutes long.
Before we talk about this movie, I would like to give a suggestion to viewers who want to watch it: you don’t have to go to an IMAX theater to watch this movie, you can still watch it in an ordinary theater.
Many viewers pay attention to this film, perhaps because of the film's other more famous title - " Rise of the Planet of the Apes 4".
The "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" series was once the seed player for Hollywood blockbusters to dominate the box office in the mainland movie market -
the top three domestic box office movies were: 179 million, 707 million, and 740 million respectively.
This new work seven years later is not a reboot, but a sequel. It is also the beginning of a new trilogy.
The story takes place 300 years after Caesar's death. Caesar is gone, but the Planet of the Apes world created by Caesar is still there, and the story also welcomes a new protagonist, Noah. The director of the
film was changed from Matt Reeves of series 2 and 3 to Wes Ball, director of "The Maze Runner".
's opening reputation seems to be pretty good. The latest Rotten Tomatoes rating is 82%, which is exactly the same as the first part of the series. Rotten Tomatoes for the first three episodes of the series are: "War for the Planet of the Apes" 82%, "War for the Planet of the Apes" 91%, and "War for the Planet of the Apes 3" 94%.
Although the War for the Planet of the Apes trilogy is a commercial special effects film, the sci-fi fable style of the film that reflects reality is what makes it better than ordinary blockbusters.
How about "War for the Planet of the Apes"?
In my opinion, compared to the more speculative trilogy of the Caesar era, this pioneering work in the post-Caesar era seems to be closer to the style of the director's "Maze Runner" series. Compared to the science fiction fable, it seems to be closer to a sci-fi fable. An adventure treasure film.
However, the film’s domestic box office did not rise due to its improved entertainment quality.
was released in domestic theaters simultaneously with North America. The domestic box office on the first day only exceeded 14 million as of 6 p.m. Maoyan predicts the total box office to be: 230 million.
Compared with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" seven years ago, it can only be said to be a cliff-like decline.
Perhaps the problem is not the film itself, but the seven years from 3 to 4, which were also the seven years when Hollywood movies experienced vicissitudes in the mainland market.
When Caesar ends and Noah appears, one thing seems certain:
Chinese audiences no longer buy Hollywood blockbusters.
1: Impressions
After watching "War for the Planet of the Apes 4", if you ask me what my most direct impressions are, I will use two words to describe it, what a pity! Why is
such a pity?
It’s not because Caesar’s era in the film has come to an end, leaving only legends.
It’s not because the film replaced the revenge story that Hollywood has filmed countless times with an orangutan and filmed it again.
It’s not because the film has too much drama.
is not without thrilling war scenes.
But because as the opening film of a new trilogy, the film seems to want both ends, but neither end can reach the shore.
The film explores themes such as power, freedom, and racial coexistence. The world view is very large, including the conflict between apes and humans, and the discussion of human nature. But the speculative nature is difficult to match the first three parts.
The film seems to want to enhance entertainment and enhance dramatic conflicts, but the pleasure is difficult to compare with the more straightforward " Godzilla vs. Kong 2".
The film wants to continue the overall temperament of the first three films, and even retrieve the technological legends, mysterious weapons, and the violent rule of the apes from the 1960s and 1970s. However, the audience seems to agree with Douban netizens. In a word: It turns out that what I like is not Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but Caesar.
Without Caesar’s ape-like charm to support him, the film always seems to be missing something.
After all, it is boring to eat and a pity to discard.
2: Story
The core story of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes 4" is just four words: "The birth of a new king."
After Caesar's death, the apes began a new chaos. This part is about the growth process of the new leader of the apes.
Watched from the world, the film continues the third part of the series. After being infected by the virus, human beings completely degenerate and lose the ability to speak and think.
Except for the human heroine of this film: Mei.
At this time on the earth, all high-rise buildings have been abandoned. Human beings are often chased by orangutans wearing shoulder armor, holding spears, and riding war horses, acting as slaves.
But like the director's "Maze Runner", there are also divisions within the ape group similar to human society.
The male protagonist Noah's tribe originally lived a primitive and beautiful life, riding horses, raising eagles, growing vegetables and drying fish.
Until the tribe led by the sturdy silverback gorilla invaded, a new world of wasteland began to arrive.
With the help of the red-haired ape Laka, Noah not only learned about the glorious days of Caesar's era, but also learned about the history of humans and apes.
He finally joined forces with the heroine Mei to resist the coastal tribe that was full of cruel survival, inhuman exploitation, and uncontrolled violence. The final story ending of
is not difficult to predict, but the unexpected plot setting is that the film is not a sex-changed version of Avatar.
Compared with the overly clichéd growth history of Noah, what is really interesting is the undercover spy story of the human heroine.
As a human heroine who is a triple agent, the gun hidden behind her when she said goodbye to Noah said everything.
Even if they join forces for a short time, humans and apes will eventually return to their respective masters, and there will probably be a battle in the future.
After reading this introduction, I know what everyone wants to say?
The plot you mentioned seems to be closer to the old version of Planet of the Apes from the 1960s.
Yes, it is closer to the old version.
This is not to say that this ambition is wrong, but the narrative of the film is a bit too slow. The nearly 150-minute movie could have been cut to 100 minutes.
Especially in the first half of the film, the dialogue and temptation between humans and apes is too long. It wasn't until the human heroine's espionage drama unfolded that the story gradually became interesting.
The story reaches its climax in the last 20 minutes, the tension of the war between man and ape emerges, and the film ends.
makes the video look like a long trailer.
The question is, will the feature film look good?
3: About Noah and the human heroine
Like everyone else, before the release of "War for the Planet of the Apes", my biggest expectation for the film was Caesar. The role of
is really successful.
The foundation of the success of the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" series lies in the creation of an awakening hero, Caesar.
In comparison, Noah in this movie is more like a fledgling young hero.
If Caesar is a Qiao Feng-style hero, Noah is more like Xu Zhu who was pushed onto the stage of destiny by chance.
started out as an ordinary person, unable to fish, and even the eagle raised by his father looked down upon him. He then experienced various accidents and hardships and completed his growth. When the eagle hovering in the sky in the film finally returned to Noah's command, it also marked the beginning of his growth. The birth of a new generation of heroes.
The so-called Rise of the Planet of the Apes is also the rise of Noah inheriting Caesar's legacy and the rise of a young hero.
We can’t say that the story is not good, nor can we say that Owen Tiger, who uses motion capture technology to play Noah, is not good at acting. Especially the moment when Noah sees his father’s body, his eyes are really moving.
But, at least so far, the gap between Noah and Caesar is still too far.
The relatively near-god Caesar, this new generation of ape hero, is too ordinary.
In contrast, the human heroine Mei is more mysterious and complex.
looked like an innocent little white flower at the beginning, but in the climax of the third act, the entire suspense and dramatic tension were supported by her, especially when she blasted away her opponent with one shot, which was so cool.
The entire character creation is unfolded layer by layer like peeling an onion. Finally, the true identity is exposed, which has a shocking and shocking feeling.
Perhaps the most outstanding part of the new trilogy is no longer an ape hero, but a stunning human female spy.
4: Special effects
I know that many viewers are still concerned about the special effects.
My answer is: wonderful, but not necessarily the wonderful you want.
director Wes Ball said that it was a crime that the first three films in the series never won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. "I will do my best to change this situation."
film special effects have indeed gone a step further , but mainly refers to the motion capture technology special effects that the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" series is most proud of.
has experienced the continuous maturity of technology. This one is very close to a "live-action cartoon" like "The New Lion King". The expressions, hair, light and shadow of the apes are so delicate that they look real. has no special effects, which is the feeling. Top notch special effects.
But the problem is precisely here, because the Chinese audience does not care about this.
What we care about is never how advanced the special effects technology is, but whether the visual effects of the film are shocking.
From this perspective, the special effects of the film are relatively average.
Although, there are many scenes in the film that are very enjoyable, such as the great changes in the world after the disappearance of human beings, abandoned cities covered by plants, and the world becoming like a jungle.
also has a finale with a race against the intruding flood, a human military base full of visual tension, etc.
But the best action scenes may be the orangutan rock climbing parkour and the orangutan riding a horse. Especially the scene where the orangutan rides a big horse even has the flavor of a Hong Kong-style martial arts film.
But the orangutan battle that the audience was most looking forward to was relatively ordinary, mainly a familiar cold weapon duel. Serious, but not new.
Finally, human weapons appear, and one shot determines the outcome. It is simple and crude enough, but the visuals are not amazing.
If you go in with the expectation of watching a special effects movie like " Godzilla ", you will probably be disappointed.
5: Topic
What movies should I watch?
The core attraction of the Planet of the Apes series has never been the special effects, but the science fiction fable. The core theme of the entire series of
is actually one: Can humans and apes live in symbiosis when they separate and combine?
At present, it seems that races and ethnicities can never be integrated. The first three parts of the
series, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and the demise of humanity. In the fourth part of
, the heroine finally gets the last key and returns to the base. The final rotation of the human satellite and Noah's eyes all indicate that humans will make a comeback. The more interesting theme of
's video is to use apes to satirize human beings themselves.
When apes took charge of the earth, they were immediately infected with the biggest problem of human beings: endless fighting.
The villain, Cesar, the orangutan, expands territory, builds large-scale construction projects, establishes a dynasty, and hopes to dig out the achievements of human civilization to quickly realize the evolution of apes. This is all right, but he adopts medieval-style brutal rule and forces all apes to must If you have to shout slogans and pretend to be happy when you work overtime, you will inevitably encounter resistance from Noah and the ape office workers.
Progress is not everything.
However, Noah eventually overthrew his rule, which also caused the apes to lose the opportunity to develop across the ages, and exposed the current situation of the apes to unfriendly humans.
Is his idealism really a better outcome for the ape community?
In the film, from the rise of the apes to the internal prejudice, opposition, and infighting, it seems that the apes have retraced the old path of human civilization. This in itself is the ultimate irony.
The human beings in the film are as stupid and selfish as ever, committing suicide time and time again.
Even the kind-hearted Noah began to reflect at the end: Are humans really trustworthy?
It seems that higher civilization and intelligence always bring more desire, betrayal and deception. The fate of humans and apes goes round and round, and it is difficult to coexist in the end. The shot of humans and apes looking up at the camera at the end of
is so romantic and so desperate.
They are looking at the same starry sky, but they are destined to different destinies.
6: Time is running out for Hollywood
So is the film good or not?
depends on what you want to see when entering.
If you just want to watch a passable popcorn movie with a bit of depth, this movie is worth watching.
But if you want to compare it with the first three movies in the series, the shortcomings of
are too obvious. The first half is too long, and the climax section lacks tension. As a good movie, the movie doesn’t have enough laughs. A sci-fi blockbuster with a philosophical theme, it's a bit of a slap in the face.
To be honest, of course I hope that the new trilogy can tell new ideas.
After all, the current audience has seen all kinds of special effects, and what they need most is a more interesting story.
But in this sense, the film does not go far enough. The box office of
also proves this point.
Judging from the first-day box office, although the film won the first-day box office, it was probably around 20 million. The platform predicts that the film's final box office in the mainland will exceed 230 million. Compared with the previous games in the series,
’s box office figures are not ideal.
The old version of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" won a box office of 179 million in the mainland market in 2011, ranking 16th in the annual box office.
In 2014, the domestic box office of "War for the Planet of the Apes" soared to 707 million, ranking seventh in the annual box office.
In 2017, "War for the Planet of the Apes" grossed 740 million at the box office, and mainland China became the series' largest overseas box office.
If the mainland box office of the fourth film is as predicted by the platform, it will be a big question whether the film can recover the cost of US$200 million.
In just seven years, another Hollywood ace series has failed at the box office in the mainland. This actually proves once again:
Domestic audiences are increasingly leaning towards domestic films and alienating Hollywood blockbusters.
In fact, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is not the only classic Hollywood series that has seen a decline in box office. In the past two years, "Fast and Furious 10", "Transformers: Rise of the Power Rangers", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Mission: Impossible 7" have all been released in China. ”, all suffered box office declines.
Of the Hollywood blockbuster series that can hold up the box office, it seems that only the simplest and most crude "Godzilla" is left. Why is
? One reason is that Hollywood blockbusters can no longer satisfy the "taste" of Chinese audiences.
In the past, the reason why imported films were so successful at the box office was that they were so successful.
It’s because we go to the cinema because we want to watch a dream journey with special effects and see more wonders in the distance.
But today’s audiences prefer to watch our own lives and need movies that can create topics and provide emotional outlets.
This is why "", a movie about anti-scumbag men, and ", a hot and spicy movie" about weight loss, have set off box office miracles one after another.
Even " ", which talks about wealth anxiety, has already earned 460 million at the box office, becoming a comedy box office dark horse again.
What about the irreplaceable spectacle that is Hollywood blockbusters? Our own " Wandering Earth " series and "Fengshen" series can also be supplied.
is like this. The Hollywood blockbusters don’t work in the Chinese market.
Another problem lies with Hollywood itself.
Under the influence of the Hollywood writers strike, political correctness and superhero movies, there are fewer excellent original stories in Hollywood.
But Chinese audiences are no longer used to "blockbusters" that rely on special effects and perfunctory stories.
or "War for the Planet of the Apes" is a blockbuster with a passable story and passable special effects.
Just like in the movie, 300 years have passed since the splendid Caesar era.
The era of Hollywood blockbusters that Chinese movie fans will never forget has passed.
"War for the Planet of the Apes" may eventually achieve a decent box office of RMB 200-300 million in the mainland market, but Hollywood blockbusters may not have their own Rise of the Planet of the Apes again.
