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.

Also, this is NGN's 100th post. So I and Josh would like to thank everyone who has read our reviews, news and anything else we have posted. Thanks for commenting also. If you are a fan, tell your friends about us. The more fans the better. Here's to the next 100 posts. Cheers!

Modern Warfare 3 Spec Ops Survival

Hey Josh here with more news on Modern Warfare 3. So it appears Infinity Ward have released a trailer for COD's answer to horde mode.

Here's the trailer:

So what do you think? To me it feels like its the Combat Training from Black Ops but with a bit more attention on the game play and where the bots spawn and what you can do in terms of killstreaks. This has gotten me slightly more excited for this game.

Comments Below.

Dead Island Trailer

Hey Josh here giving you more of a look at Dead Islands co-op game play and story.

The trailer shows us more about the characters and gives more of a feel for what the characters are like and who people may want to go.

Here's the trailer. 

So from what we can see so far its like Left 4 Dead but with a lot more freedom and a bit more of a movie feel to the game play and story. I cant wait for this game and i will be pre ordering the collectors issue very soon.

Comments Below. 

The Dark Knight Rises Official Catwoman

Hey Josh here with our first look at Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. This is an official still that has been released and is sparking rage amongst the die hard fans that are always hard to please.

Here's the still.

So what do you guys think? Personally i don't mind it. I always knew from the start Nolan would have a realistic approach to Catwoman and have her as a female version of Batman who has almost all his gadgets. I think the hi tech goggles look great and keep it grounded and realistic and gives them a purpose rather than just a look to the costume. The only thing I'm missing from this is cat ears. A small touch i know but it would add so much add so much to the character and help the not so bright movie goers that it is Catwoman and keep the fan boys happy.

So what do you think on her costume?

Comments Below

Borderlands 2 Announced

Hey Josh here giving you news on the sequel to the amazingly insane game Borderlands.

So its now been officially announced that 2K have started work on Borderlands 2 and apparently have been for a while and did well to keep it quiet. They have said that there will be a playable demo for fans to play at the upcoming PAX convention.

Along with this revelation a few other details have been released and speculated. Such as new vehicle's and new characters and classes. Lets have a look.

So we have the new one new character so far who is known as the Gunzerker so hes a mix of soldier and berserker by the sounds of things and it looks like he will be using some huge guns that other players cannot equip.

As we can see in the Game Informer cover theres something in the backgorund. Jets

So perhaps we get more than just the cars from the first game and a new way to see Pandora.

So what do you think? I was a big fan of the first game and cant wait to revisit Pandora and see what changes have been made to the wasteland and what new inhabitants are there. Fingers crossed the game will be as good as the first.

Comments Below.

First Official Picture Of Superman Man Of Steel

Hey Josh here bringing you the first official picture of what Henry Cavill will look like in Man Of Steel.

Click for bigger image

So what do you think? Snyder promised a faithful costume that would be like the comics but add a few more modern looks. No sight of the red underpants on the outside as of yet so maybe they are going with the reboot look to Superman.

Comments Below.

The Dark Knight Rises Batman Vs Bane Video

Hey Josh here with yet more Dark Knight Rises news. This time we have video footage of the riots on the steps and a look at Batman and Bane fighting in all the chaos. Bane is shaping up to be quite the agent of chaos.

So there you go. A better look at Batman fighting Bane. I don't need to say how much we are looking forward to this film and seeing how Nolan is going to wrap things up.

Comments below.