Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Review

The Planet Of The Apes franchise has seen highs and lows. The first two installment's were brilliant and took audiences on science fiction adventures. Some installments took a more childish route and focused more on the comical sides. But the franchise hit it's lowest when Tim Burton bastardised the Apes in ways that offended me. Marky Mark? Really? Anyway, now we get the latest installment of monkey buisness. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes arrives on screens ten years after Planet Of The Apes, butchered by Tim Burton. It's a prequel and a reboot, so I shall call it a Requel! An this Requel is fantastic!

ROTPOTA is set in the modern day and tells the story of Will Rodman (James Franco) who works for GEN-SYS. This company and Will in particular have been trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's. When an experiment involving a chimpanzee called Bright Eyes goes wrong, Will's project is cancelled by his boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo). Bright Eyes is killed and the rest of the chimps are put down, but Will finds out that Bright Eyes had a child and decides to take it home. Years pass and Will and his father Charles (John Lithgow) are looking after Caesar (Andy Serkis), the chimp is older and much more advanced than the average chimp. We see the rise of Caesar and The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

As a fan of this franchise, after suffering for so long. This movie is lifeline Apes fans have been waiting for. Director Rupert Wyatt takes the subject seriously, he doesn't try to make it fun. He concentrates on the story and the story is great. The character's are honed to perfection. Caesar in general, is not only a brilliant CGI character, not only the best character in the film. But Caesar is one of the best characters this year! Sure, the film has action. But this isn't Transformers, it's not mindless and dull! This film spends time on story and characters, leaving the last thirty minutes for spectacular action set pieces were you actually care about the characters.

It started with Gollum, peaked with Avatar and has now matured with ROTPOTA. The motion capture in this film is mind blowing, after ten minutes I forgot they were computer generated characters. The technology has really hit it's peak and Andy Serkis's performance in this film is superb. His mannerism's and his facial movements bring so much realism to the character. For a character who doesn't speak, so much emotion is portrayed. Caesar is the main character without actually speaking, he communicates through sign language.

The movie isn't perfect but it's pretty close. There were two things that took some of the greatness away. The film could of been longer, obviously this is me just wanting more of something great. But I wish the film would of been around two hours long. The second, being the score. Patrick Doyle did a nice job. There were parts that were just great. But I wanted more epicness- to some of the scenes and the music didn't deliver. Also, some of the supporting cast cause problems. Freida Pinto is beautiful and perfectly okay in the film but she needed more screen time. Brian Cox was a nice addition, but I wanted more from him too. Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy serves one purpose. Getting the comeuppance he didn't get in Harry Potter, but the boy can't act and he has already been typecast as a puny, annoying character who is basically a little shit!

Summer 2011 has seen ups and downs, mostly downs. Franchises have ended, been rebooted and begun. But the summer saved the best till last. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is a great example of what a Summer Blockbuster should be. Exciting, entertaining unashamedly fun. It has a compelling story, interesting characters and themes, emotion and rousing action that will please the general audience. For fans of the franchise, it's hopefully the beginning of something great. Hopefully Rupert Wyatt gets the chance to expand on his ideas and that Fox gives him the freedom and money to do so. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is not only a great summer movie but it's also one of the best film's I have seen this year!

9/10

Thanks.

Chris.

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