Director: Rupert Wyatt
Writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto
Planet of the Apes is often heralded as having one of the
coolest plot twists since the invention of the plot twists. This first movie
was good enough to keep the series going for eight movies (soon to be nine) and
even a few TV series. Is Rise of the Planet of the Apes good enough to
reintroduce the franchise to a newer generation?
The movie tells the story of Caesar, an ape that was born in a lab that test experimental drugs on primates. Andy Serkis provides the electrical signatures used to create Caesar and it looks fantastic. The movie boasts some of the most impressive CGI characters ever. The incredible CGI allows the movie to create characters that are original as well as recognisable.
The best scene in the movie is when Caesar has been locked in an abusive ‘rescue’ centre for primates. When Caesar grabs Draco Malfoy and yells ‘NO!’, everything goes silent and the gorilla almost sheds a tear. It is an unspoken rule that if you are able to bring a gorilla to tears, you are a pretty cool character. The tension in the scene is incredible and it sparks the third act, which is one of the strongest that I have seen in a long time.
The third act builds up really well. Once Caesar escapes the centre you know that something big is going to go down. The scene on the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing. Watching all the ultra-smart apes walk along the suspensions of the bridge is visually astounding.
This being said, the movie isn’t completely good news. Most the humans in the movie are the most basic and generic people who have ever been fictionally created. I truly believe that if you told a computer to simply create a person, this is what would come out. James Franco is just a man who is a scientist. Freida Pinto’s character may as well just be called woman because let’s be honest that is all she amounts to. One rather interesting character is that of David Oyelowo’s character. He is rather hard to read and is only in it for the money.
I heavily enjoyed the movie. The visual effects were an absolute delight to watch and the tension and pacing was utterly sublime. The apes are great as the movie carved out unique characters for each of them even tough only one of them had dialogue. Unfortunately, the humans are some of the most default people ever. Nevertheless, it was a fun movie and I certainly recommend it.
The movie tells the story of Caesar, an ape that was born in a lab that test experimental drugs on primates. Andy Serkis provides the electrical signatures used to create Caesar and it looks fantastic. The movie boasts some of the most impressive CGI characters ever. The incredible CGI allows the movie to create characters that are original as well as recognisable.
The best scene in the movie is when Caesar has been locked in an abusive ‘rescue’ centre for primates. When Caesar grabs Draco Malfoy and yells ‘NO!’, everything goes silent and the gorilla almost sheds a tear. It is an unspoken rule that if you are able to bring a gorilla to tears, you are a pretty cool character. The tension in the scene is incredible and it sparks the third act, which is one of the strongest that I have seen in a long time.
The third act builds up really well. Once Caesar escapes the centre you know that something big is going to go down. The scene on the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing. Watching all the ultra-smart apes walk along the suspensions of the bridge is visually astounding.
This being said, the movie isn’t completely good news. Most the humans in the movie are the most basic and generic people who have ever been fictionally created. I truly believe that if you told a computer to simply create a person, this is what would come out. James Franco is just a man who is a scientist. Freida Pinto’s character may as well just be called woman because let’s be honest that is all she amounts to. One rather interesting character is that of David Oyelowo’s character. He is rather hard to read and is only in it for the money.
I heavily enjoyed the movie. The visual effects were an absolute delight to watch and the tension and pacing was utterly sublime. The apes are great as the movie carved out unique characters for each of them even tough only one of them had dialogue. Unfortunately, the humans are some of the most default people ever. Nevertheless, it was a fun movie and I certainly recommend it.
