After all, African-descended people and the apes from the same continent were constantly linked in racist scientific rhetoric and in popular culture (think King Kong and the fear of black masculine primitivism).Īs Richard Von Busak notes in his essay, “Signifying Monkeys: Politics and Story-Telling in the Planet of the Apes series,” the original film may not have been intended as a racial metaphor, but the subsequent movies were much more blatant in their political allegory.
Tom felton rise of the planet of the apes series#
I have always watched the series of Planet of the Ape films like other black audiences: understanding subconsciously that these movies were metaphorically about “us” and our oppressed “condition,” understanding that our imagined “takeover” reflected white fears about the upending of racial hierarchies. “No!” A simple word transformed an ape character into a human being worthy of respect, the way an ape’s simple grasp of a bone signaled “evolution” in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which came out the same year as the original Planet–during a time of racial, political, and social unrest. And slowly, ripples of applause made their way through the theater. The audience (myself included) reacted in stunned silence, give or take a few audible gasps. However, the campy line was soon followed by an impressive pause, in which our hero Caesar (a CGI ape humanized by Andy Serkis) stood upright, stared defiantly at his oppressor, and then spoke his very first words in the film while tightening his grip:Īnd just like that, the giggling came to an abrupt end.
Tom felton rise of the planet of the apes movie#
Sure enough, the recognizable line drew guffaws in the movie theater where I watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rupert Wyatt’s loose prequel to the sci-fi classic, which imagines how humans’ scientific experimentation on apes led to their world takeover. It occurred right after the prison guard Dodge Landon (played by Tom Felton) delivered the iconic phrase from the original Planet of the Apes, immortalized by Charlton Heston: “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!” RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES opens nationwide on August 5 th.A chill-inducing moment turned Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a potentially campy summer action movie, into serious drama. Joining them were guests, which included: Claire Coffee, Loretta Devine, Casey Bond, Michael Papajohn, Derek Mears, Emily Montague, Louise Griffiths, Rupert Grint and Molly Sims. Seen walking the red carpet were the stars of the film, which included: James Franco, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Tim Felton, Terry Notary, Jamie Harris, David Oyelowo, Peter Chernin (Producer), Rupert Wyatt (Director), and from WETA Joe Letteri and Dan Lemmon. The CGI ape is from the Oscar-winning team that brought to life the worlds of AVATAR and LORD OF THE RINGS. In the film, a single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other, and to the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The fans screamed very loudly for James Franco, Tom Felton and Rupert Grint.
So when the stars walked across the street to sign autographs they had to stop the traffic. Fans lined the street, which was not closed off. 20 TH Century Fox held the Los Angeles Premiere of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES on July 28 th at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.