The time has come for The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a Quick Nonspoiler #Review by Kev
Medical researcher Will Rodman (James Franco) has spent years developing a gene therapy treatment to reverse the damage caused by illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and his newest drug shows incredible promise. When unintended consequences have unintended consequences of their own, a perfect storm ripples out from there, ushering in The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
With the constant influx of remakes and reimaginings by Hollywood and the frequently justified groan of “Not again” that periodically rises from the movie viewing public, it is easy to walk into any showing nowadays with extremely low expectations or to avoid the ticket price altogether and stay home to watch reality TV.
I refuse to do that.
With the pipeline restored and imagination flowing from the LA font, the dried up seasons that existed after the storied strike of 2007 – 2008 have once again turned into verdant savannas.
As a fan of the original movies and one who put Planet of the Apes (2001) in the ‘great but not fantastic’ classification column, I was initially a little hesitant about this re-re-launch.
However, I have chosen to be positive about the state of the entertainment biz and give films that sound interesting a chance at the theater.
What we have here with The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a wonderful movie rich in detail and some incredibly powerful acting from mo-cap artist Andy Serkis. Why in god’s name he is not listed at least near the top in the IMDB listing is beyond me.
One thing you will notice is the utter lack of spoken word throughout much of this film. Why?, because the star of this film is not James Franco, Frieda Pinto or even John Lithgow, it is Caesar as played by Andy Serkis.
The effects team deserves a lot of credit, also, for creating a plausible looking world that does not distract from the story telling and for creating the faces of the apes that power drive the myriad of emotion directly into your mind and into your heart.
You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel an attachment for artificial characters you have not experienced for quite some time.
Nerds will love the intricate details involved in the science and interactions. Geeks will love the ton of references to the original movies. Everyone will be primed for the possible, and inevitable (this is a Hollywood film after all), sequels that will occur.
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is easily one of the best movies of 2011.
