Okay, so we all know what is going to happen in this film. Don’t we? I mean, we all have heard of Planet of the Apes and pretty much every one, even if they haven’t seen that film, knows the plot. But it sure is fun getting to the talking apes, and the way we get to it is through medical experiments. Looking for a cure for Alzheimer’s in particular is what leads Franco’s character into experimenting on chimpanzees, and then the birth[1] of little chimp baby Caesar.
The Rise of the planet of the apes
Leaving aside the whole science part, because lets face it, it is total balls, the story is excellent. You’ll really feel for these cgi apes in a way which you don’t in many other films. Now maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’ve read The chimps of Fauna Sanctuary fairly recently, but knowing that little bit about what we have made real chimpanzees suffer through was enough to get me on their side in this film.
And I really liked that. We are supposed to be on Caesar’s side. He is the good guy, and for the most part the humans are the bad guys and you don’t want to see them get away without being punished. And it really was surprisingly emotional, or at least I found it surprisinlgy moving even though the whole way through I was very much aware that this was a cgi creation, it never really appeared *real*. None of the chimps/apes did. But I think that was a deliberate move on the part of the film makers, I may be wrong. I would say that Andy Serkis totally deserves an Oscar for his performance. You really do empathise with his character, even if, like me, you do find him threatening and more than worthy of fear. At one stage a character says that she loves chimps, but that she is afraid of them. And that we should be. And that is how I felt about Caesar. I wanted him to be happy, but you couldn’t help but feel that he was a very dangerous individual.
Thoroughly enjoyable film, one I’d watch again, no problem. If you haven’t seen it off you pop.
IMDb – Other reviews: Cinelpgue ; The green light ; Culture watch
Action
- totally implausible though ↩
I have to admit I went to this movie not expecting to like it and wound up enjoying it. I was pleasantly surprised and look forward to the sequel…
Kailana´s last blog post ..Week in Review (30)
It was good wasn't it :)
Hiya Fence! This is really the only one of the series that seems fairly interesting to me, and I am looking forward to seeing it. I'll probably wait until it's released on dvd, though. I'm wondering if anybody was able to get off the line "Get your hands off me, you damn dirty ape" because it would be a shame if they didn't keep up the tradition. :) Lately, I have been VERY impressed with Mr. James Franco. Have you seen 127 Hours? That movie was amazing!
Kelly´s last blog post ..Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?
That line does indeed show up.
I haven't seen 127 hours yet, but I have to say that Franco is coming across as a very interesting person, which is surprising considering that I first saw him in Tristan & Isolde and was not impressed