Last week, I saw the new science fiction film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The movie’s basic idea was tempting. Scientists are experimenting with drugs to increase human intelligence. They test the drugs on chimpanzees. The chimps become so intelligent that they want their freedom from human control, and we see the beginnings of a new order on Earth. The moral issues in this film, dealing with genetic engineering and how far humans should be willing to tamper with nature, are interesting. However, the film has a fatal flaw that finally makes it a failure. The filmmakers make silly storytelling errors that finally destroyed the fantasy for this viewer.

I can explain the problem with one example. At one point in the film, scientists are giving an experimental drug to a chimpanzee. There is an accident, and some of the drug is sprayed into the air in the laboratory. One of the scientists is not wearing a mask, so he accidentally breathes in some of the drug. The drug causes a virus that kills him a few days later. His virus spreads to other humans. From this we realize that the virus will become an epidemic.

Before he dies, he tries to visit the film’s main character to warn him about the problem. However, the main character is not home, so he never hears the dying man’s important message. The virus spreads because the dying man is not able to tell anyone about it before it is too late.

Question: why didn’t the dying man call the main character on his cell phone? The story is set in modern times, and the characters are successful scientific researchers. Wouldn’t they have cell phones, just like everyone else these days? If you were dying from a terrible virus, and you needed to tell your co-worker about it quickly in order to save many lives, would you visit his house, or would you phone him? Of course, you would phone him. But this movie requires that the main character never learn about the virus. So, conveniently, the dying man never thinks of using his cell phone. The story would be very different if the dying man had simply done what any real person would do in this situation.

On another occasion, the intelligent apes have escaped from their cages, and are running through the city. The main character suddenly realizes that they are going to attack his laboratory, so he gets into his car and drives across town to try to get there first. But he is too late. Question: why didn’t he phone the laboratory to warn them that the apes were coming? Wouldn’t you?

The filmmakers must have been very excited about the suspense they were going to create with their story. But the first rule of good storytelling, especially if you are telling a fantasy story, is to make everything seem believable and reasonable. If you conveniently overlook parts of reality that would make your story less exciting, then you are cheating your audience. If they notice the cheating, they will not be excited by the story. They will feel cheated and resentful. More importantly, they will not enjoy the rest of the story. Stupid errors or omissions in a story stick in your mind, and prevent you from following the storyteller on his journey.

The absence of cell phones sticks in my mind after watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I feel cheated.

by Daren Jonescu, Language Education Center

Daren Jonescu  -

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