Last week we took a day date to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The movie is a prequel to the Planet of the Apes series, but it does not assume that you have seen the other movies. It follows the story of Will, a scientist for a drug company working on a cure for Alzheimer’s, whose obsession for his work is fueled by his father’s own battle with the condition. Due to an unfortunate incident, Will loses his funding and his group is ordered pull the plug but this doesn't stop him from stealing one baby ape and continuing his research from home. Over the years Will, his father, and the now moniker-ed “Cesar” grow into a happy family until one faithful day where Will’s father has an incident with the neighbor and things start going downhill rapidly. From here Apes get smarter, angrier, and rise-up-ier...but I don’t want to go into much more detail because it really is a good watch and lot of stuff happens.
Now… onto the review…
I actually liked the movie. I didn’t find it amazing but I didn’t dislike it either. The special effects were decent but making Cesar entirely CG took away something. I totally understand why this was the best option, but maybe a puppet or two would have helped with the realism. The acting was good but, again, nothing spectacular; though I will give credit to John Lithgow who is always pretty amazing, oh, and Tom Felton (it took a good 10-15 minutes before I leaned over to Tony and said “I think that’s Malfoy”, then another 10-15 minutes for us to both be convinced, and even then I still looked it up when the movie ended). He filled the role well but his character's personality wasn’t all that different from what we have from seen him before (minus the whole "P-P-Potter.." stutter action). I’ve heard some people (Tony…) say that the action was lacking and this brought the movie down.*
"Objection your honor!...You may approach the bench...why thank you. Hey y'all, this is Tony. What I was trying to say was that the movie is titled RISE of the Planet of the Apes, the previews showed apes on roof tops with spears, and scar faced battle torn bad-ass apes consciously pushing helicopters off bridges, but the end result seemed lack-luster in the PLANETARY UPRISING department. I was left a little disappointed wanting something more. The movie was good and filled (mostly...you could connect the dots) the gaps between this and the original, so don't get me wrong...I just wanted to put my two cents in...perhaps if I had been less lazy..."
*I tend to disagree. There wasn't much in the way of action but with this being a prequel we should expect a lot of build up, relationship building, and back story. It does, however, deliver in these areas immensely. I was so sucked into the story I didn’t care that there weren't a lot of explosions or monkey chases. Overall the movie was very enjoyable. Don’t walk in expecting some earth-shattering eye-opening mega movie but it was a decent and entertaining piece of cinema.
Due to the overall entertaining nature of the film, and the amazing acting of Lithgow, I give this movie 3 “Damn Dirty Apes” out of 5 (predictable, I know… but I had to...sorry Collin).
And I leave you with this:
“If it doesn’t have a tail, it’s not a monkey.
Even if it has a monkey kind of shape.
If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey.
If it doesn’t have a tail it’s not a monkey, it’s an ape.”-Aamber S. (Edited and Interrupted by Tony S.)
The Revolution Review 2011
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