Will ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Give Franchise Its First VFX Oscar?
Spectacle has been essential to keeping moviegoing alive and pushing filmmaking forward, and the impact of VFX on the industry cannot be overstated. As major studios look for more avenues to entice audiences into theaters in this rapidly shifting world of technology, in which almost every form of entertainment is at our fingertips, the promise of breathtaking set pieces on the big screen remains one of the biggest selling points for audiences. Ideally, the best achievement in visual effects Oscar sets a bar in terms of what can be attained through technology, creativity, budget and audience investment.
As a result, the category differs from the others in that it suggests a measurable goal for productions to reach. If a blockbuster with dinosaurs can’t look at least as good as the industry-shifting visual effects on display in Jurassic Park (1993), then there’s still work to be done. Those same industry-shifting metrics also apply to the current iteration of the Planet of the Apes franchise. The latest entry, a visual marvel, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is nominated for best VFX at the 97th Academy Awards. While the franchise’s three previous entries didn’t secure the win despite multiple nominations, could this year finally be the year Apes takes home the gold?
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Over the past 13 years, we’ve watched digital and mo-cap-composed apes rise to face a new dawn, but despite those feats, they’ve yet to conquer the Oscars. Of course, this is no small achievement as the category is populated with many of the best artists in the business, each deserving of recognition. All four entries — Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) — received nominations for best VFX, though the previous three lost to Hugo, Interstellar and Blade Runner 2049, respectively. It’s impossible to argue that any of those wins was undeserving, but there’s still a lasting feeling among film critics and pundits that Apes deserves its moment. The latest entry is up against Alien: Romulus, Dune: Part Two, Wicked and another simian-led feature, Better Man. To put just how tight the race is into perspective, all of the nominees except for Wicked — which was worked on at ILM — and Dune: Part Two — DNEG worked on this one — had their VFX developed by famed New Zealand company Weta. But what Apes has in its favor is both legacy and evolution.
In terms of legacy, Planet of the Apes has broken new ground across decades. Franklin J. Schaffner’s original 1968 film, Planet of the Apes, loosely based on Pierre Boulle’s novel, transported audiences to a world very different than their own, but instantly believable — startlingly so because of the craft of practical effects wizard John Chambers, whose prosthetic work gave life to the apes who inhabited the film’s vision of Earth’s future. Not only did Chambers’ work on Planet of the Apes change industry practices, inspiring many makeup artists who would follow in his footsteps, but Planet of the Apes also changed the Academy Awards. As incredible as it seems, the Academy didn’t create the best makeup and hairstyling category until 1981, yet Chambers’ work was considered such a feat that he was awarded an honorary special achievement Oscar, the second honorary award granted for makeup. Chambers’ apes drew attention to the necessary makeup effects work that Hollywood had relied on from the beginning, and pushed not only his medium forward but VFX as well.
The recent Apes films feel like an evolution of Chambers’ work despite the different art forms. With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, VFX nominees Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke harness the emotional power of VFX and the sheer sense of awe audiences crave from blockbusters. Winquist and Unterfranz have worked on each entry of the franchise starting with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, bringing out the sincerity in Andy Serkis’ exquisite performance of Caesar, and the other apes that populate the franchise, while creating a sense of empathy for these characters that feels in line with what Chambers sought. Because of how emotionally involving and believable these characters are, it’s almost too easy to forget we are watching digital characters on the screen.
The apes in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes take that fidelity further, and their facial expressions, posture and movement showcase not only an evolution in the world of the film but an evolution in terms of how much the VFX team can pull from motion-capture suits to further develop individually unique and authentic characters. The realism of the actors’ performances in mo-cap suits have made it difficult in some instances to determine whether the secret ingredient to these films is acting or VFX, which may be the reason Academy voters haven’t granted the series a VFX win, nor an acting nomination, which Serkis deserved. However, a special feature on the physical and digital release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes allows viewers to see side by side what the finished film looks like and what the actors in their mo-cap suits, pre-VFX, looked like — highlighting both the actors and the VFX artists’ symbiotic relationship. Between the acting and the VFX, each installment provided innovative, inspiring and worthy reasons to go to the movies, and those qualities should be acknowledged and celebrated on Hollywood’s biggest night.
This story first appeared in a February stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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