Movie Review: The Rise of the Planet of the Apes

"The Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Released August 2011

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt

This is probably the best of the Planet of the Apes series. Where that puts it on your scale probably depends on how you feel about the other movies in the series. The original 1968 Charlton Heston Planet of the Apes is a classic. (Of course, it was downhill after the first movie in the classic series, only the first two are even worth mentioning). Then there was the Tim Burton 2001 Planet of the Apes. A remake from a director I love. I don't remember much about the quality of that movie, it's been years since I saw it. I do remember thinking that the ending didn't make sense to me but I heard that it was more accurate to the books than the Heston version. Well, this new movie does a lot in the way of explanation and the story is probably the best and most cohesive of any Apes movies thus far.

Simultaneously, the acting was pretty terrible, or maybe just mediocre. Tom Felton did his best attempt to break away from his Draco Malfoy role by...well choosing a character who was almost exactly like the Draco character...or at least it he acted it almost identical. I'm not impressed with his acting at all, and James Franco is hit and miss. Some movies he's amazing, others you just don't understand how he could act so badly. He was pretty disappointing in this movie. Most of the humans were. Luckily the movie focused on the story of Caesar more than his human counterparts. 

Oh and all I can say about Freida Pinto is...."Latika! Latika!"

Yet, the CGI for the apes was beyond impressive...it was incredible. I wasn't even sure if it was CGI half the time (same team that did the Avatar CGI) and the story was great. For those who can't swallow apes as main characters, it may not be the movie for you. As for me, I enjoyed it.

So...it was a pretty good movie...very high quality in certain areas and poorer quality in others. If you like scifi or the classic series you will probably like this movie. If not, you might not be able to take it seriously.

---Noelle