Original Source: techpunk.cn/post/planetofapesdowndown
The "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" series is over. Before watching the movie, I always thought that this film could continue to be filmed until the time when the ape civilization had a profound and irreconcilable contradiction like human civilization. The ape tribe was photographed developing religion, hereditary, writing, the Cultural Revolution, terrorism, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
However, it ended abruptly and cleverly. It transferred the core contradiction of the duel between the orangutans to the duel between the two human forces. The bombing of the artillery shells caused an avalanche. In the end, both sides lost. It ends with "The vast white land is really clean", which is a simple hint, which completely vulgarizes the theme of this film and becomes "human beings are not killed by the rise of ape, but by themselves."
It is indeed the case, from the orangutan experiment in the first movie to the spread of "ape flu", every node has the arrogance, fear and vulnerability of human civilization. But in this sense, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is only left with how to solve the contradiction of "experimental failures", and the charm of "challenging human existence" in science fiction films is gone.
The DNA sequences of humans and orangutans are 95% similar, and humans are also directly descended from Australopithecus. This gives us contradictory views on primates like monkeys, just like our poor relatives, who are afraid that they will cause trouble, and have to make arrangements morally and emotionally.
It is not a particularly clever approach to transfer the development and contradictions of human civilization to orangutans, especially in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", where humans only play the role of enlightenment. Our Monkey King not only challenged the authority of human beings and gods, but also entered the human civilization system with a positive result. The orangutan learns human language and uses human war art. How is this civilization defined?
Taking the liberty to call it "ape civilization", I think it is biased and refuted. After all, it is a low-level stage that fully inherits and imitates human civilization. Rebellion, mass movements and even "ape rape" appear, which is pessimistic about the identity of civilization. Or is it a deliberate simulation of human inferiority?
Another reason is that the film has touched upon the philosophical connotation of "what is a person". After Caesar learned to speak English, he continued to use Apes as his racial identity, but at the same time, in the process of quarreling with humans, he had been seeking "human identity", which felt that it was a "Human Being".
Therefore, on this Planet of Apes, there has never been any ape civilization, only the heirs of the enlightened civilization who were killed by the enlightened. The enlightened and the enlightened are still relatives. It's a bit like "Wang Mang usurping Han".
The objective reason for the continuous decline in the connotation of the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" series lies in the positioning of Hollywood genre films. Films with diffuse themes and complex films can easily lose focus in the market. The more blockbuster the film is, the more condensed and single the theme becomes; In fact, the rough "Planet of the Apes" series 50 years ago has a deeper touch on the relationship between human civilization and ape civilization.
"Planet of the Apes" separates the two civilizations more clearly. The astronauts landed on an ape civilization planet (later found to be the earth) and were tried and disciplined by the apes. In the impression of humans (astronauts) Values, laws, and cultures need to be repositioned, and this profound thinking is exposed very poorly through the displacement of identities.
In "Rise of the Planet of the Apes 3", we first have doubts about the improvement of the IQ of orangutans, and almost extinction of human beings in 15 years. Secondly, we do not have a deep understanding of the value challenge of "what is a human being" and "you are a gorilla who are also worthy of being a human"? The internal contradiction of the ape is reflected in Caesar and Koba, and the contradiction between the ape and the human is more intuitive. However, the director, like he was in a hurry to have a baby after filming this film, half-concealed several prejudices and struggles in the "Battle of the Barracks".
In the battle of the barracks, the colonel, Caesar, the human little girl played by Woody Harrelson, and the enemy forces who want to destroy the colonel's team are almost all on the moral high ground. This is troublesome for the audience. It is difficult for us to project ourselves emotionally. To be precise, we can't stand in line, and we can't clarify our position.
Therefore, to end this war with complicated clues and unclear positions through avalanches, the best technical ending is "nature", which is not only a law discovered by humans who came from the colonel's mouth and had to accept, but also the screenwriter's own inability to restrain the plot Towards the latter compromise.
In "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", there has never been any ape civilization, and deeper thematic exposure has been abandoned. The first part, with its brighter highlights and tighter rhythm, is the most poignant. It's a bit "ape love is over". It tells about the love between pets and humans. We sympathize with Caesar's fate. The latter two, to be honest, except for a fierce Caesar, the focus has completely dissipated, and its level has dropped as fast as the ape flu that wiped out humans in 15 years.
The allure of sci-fi is that it meets the dots, and like the great Alien series, fans' analysis of the subject is a mixed bag. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, on the other hand, takes the opposite path, with its theme shrinking until it finally collapses into a dubious singularity.
Since the first orangutan of enlightenment was Caesar, who were Antony and Octavian? What happened to Caesar's ape Roman Empire after his death? These clues and innuendo that can be left to people's imagination are all gone.
The topical success of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and Caesar's charm are largely due to technology, but unfortunately, Yu has not concealed its flaws. To put it bluntly, it may still be a bit unfinished.
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