The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

A re-imagining of the origins of the original classic film Planet Of The Apes. When apes are tested with a "cure-all" drug, one is left to be raised by humans, to which sparks the conquest for supreme being.

I liked it. Ok cast: James Franco is good. Might be the best film he's been in since Pineapple Express (didn't see 127 hours). It's always nice to see John Lithgow in things and he gives a knock out performance in this as Franco's dad. Other mentionable cast include Brian Cox as a primate enclosure manager and his son played by Tom Felton, proving that he can play another role other than brat teenager...oh wait. Sarcasm aside he did good, his accent sounded a little off in places but Draco is the first of the Potter lot to have a good role in another movie (Rupert Grint in Thunderballs doesn't count).
No cast mentions would be complete without Andy Serkis (although IMDB would have you believe he wasn't in the film) Just like in King Kong Serkis donned the motion capture suit and monkeyed around. Without looking into too much how they captured him, if it's anything like the L.A Noire capturing, Serkis did an awesome job at all the movement and especially the facial expressions of the lead ape, Caesar.

*Spoilers*

There are some really good moments in this film, that are very emotional and you are drawn into the film. There are several moments with Caesar and Charles (Lithgow). The big two are in the trailer with the turning the fork the right way and the way he comes to his rescue when Charles sits in someone else's car. The other emotional moment is when Charles eventually dies. You see this character at their lowest with Alzheimer's, then they get temporarily cured only to have them pass away is a high roller-coaster for both character and audience. Other more non-depressing moments are when Caesar finds a circus Orangutan that can also sign language, when he climbs a tree for the first time and (again spoilers) the final moment when he speaks to James Franco.

True to its original roots there are several references to the original film. Caesar's mother is named Bright Eyes, which is the name that Charlton Heston's Taylor is named in the first film. There is clip of Charlton Heston in a film being played on the monitors in the Ape area. There is also many Tv news and newspaper references to a failed mission to Mars which is how the first film started. In the second Apes film we are told that the first word an ape said was "no", this is also Caesar's first word, which is said after Tom Felton delivers the most famous line from the apes film: "GET YOUR STINKING PAW OF ME YOU DAMN DIRTY APE!"

Recommend: Yes.
Overall: 8/10