Rise of the Planet of the Apes Reviews

The first thing that came to mind about the idea of a new film in the Planet Of The Apes series was this: what is Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes actually classed as? Is it a prequel where we find out how Earth became overrun by apes? Or is it a reboot and the start of something new? It isn't the kind of prequel you have seen in previous films that build up to the original versions such as The Godfather: Part II (flashbacks), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith, Batman Begins or even X-Men: First Class, but the dialogue within, the characters, the visual effects and background settings are the beginning of something new, so it is more of a start of a reboot where either this story will continue or another new story will rise.


Many things within the film have become the start of something new, but you cannot help but feel stunned at the motion capture visual effects! It was a wise decision using motion-capture effects for the apes rather than full CGI effects and people in suits because the apes looked real and using the motion-capture expressed even further how similar apes/monkeys are to human beings. The techniques of filming and the emotions and the differences and similarities between species that you feel within the film bought back similarities from District 9 in 2009. Thankfully it wasn't one of those "big budget, little brains" so to speak kind of films, which is what we are seeing quite a lot at the moment. There is no doubt that this will be a strong contender in the production category at the 84th Academy Awards, but it should earn a sealed lock for Best Visual Effects.


Will Rodman, researching a cure for Alzheimer’s, takes home a baby chimpanzee after its mother — supposedly a failed experiment — is destroyed. Caesar, the chimp, exhibits near-human intelligence, and comes to question his kind’s place on a human planet. Impounded after attacking a neighbour, Caesar meets other apes and foments rebellion.


After his recent Oscar nominated performance in 127 Hours, James Franco rises to an even higher level by leading the cast in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes into a whole new dimension, but this time joining two different species of the same family together. The close friendship between Dr. Will Rodman and his adopted monkey pet (more like a father-son relationship) Ceasar together express how similar yet how different human beings are to apes despite coming from the same family of species. It can be said once again that Franco is part of something special, and part of another franchise. In almost every single film there is, there is always a male and a female who fall in love, and despite that Caroline became Will's girlfriend, it felt more like Will and the ape were in love and it was more about them. Plus, she was barely involved at all so therefore she was a completely irrelevant character who just was not needed.


Andy Serkis has a critically acclaimed history with motion-capture after his fantastic role as Gollum/Smeagol in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy (and reprising the role in the upcoming Hobbit films) and as Kong in King Kong, which are ironically all Peter Jackson films. However, Andy Serkis performs motion-capture for the first time as ape protagonist Caesar. He stole the show of this, like he did in Lord Of The Rings and King Kong and proves that he is the master of motion-capture! Serkis always provides a whole new personality to a motion-capture character, even without speaking that just involves actions. Now that the Harry Potter franchise is over, we see the appearance of Tom Felton as Dodge Landon who is one of the people who 'look after' the apes. Landon is a lot like Draco Malfoy: cowardly, arrogant and abusive. Felton proves again that he is perhaps better at playing a villain. He did pull off quite a decent American accent for a Brit. John Lithgow gave a great performance too as Charles Rodman.


The making of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes was not your typical colourful Hollywood film. In some ways it felt quite surreal, extraordinary and quite frankly, more professional. It would have been even better than it already is if Peter Jackson had either directed or produced this film, which is another link to District 9 seeing as Jackson produced it. As for the director of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, who was Rupert Wyatt before this film? Now, he is known as the director of a great film and one of those rare reboots that turn out really great! The audience feel a wide mix of emotions in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes from heartbreak due to some animal cruelty, to heart-warmth due to the very close and beautiful relationship between Will and Caesar and to a lot of excitement with the action and anticipation of how the film will end. Should there be a sequel, it'd be good to see Rupert Wyatt reprise his role as director, and maybe make Peter Jackson or Neill Blomkamp as producer.


Overall, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes was a lot of great fun and was surprisingly a very heartfelt and genuine, which is the first time we have seen within the series. This one certainly makes up for 2001 remake in every way and truly shows even Tim Burton how it is done! This perhaps looked too modern to be a prequel of a film in the 1960s, but now that this is a reboot and we get a brief idea of the story of how it all happened anyway, we could be seeing a whole new series be reborn all over again. It is something to take seriously and to get great fun out of it, so it will leave you with a wide grin on your face, or maybe even make you shed a tear or two.

Unlike the first movie "Planet of the Apes", this movie tells somewhat -it could happen- story. Those who love dangerous laboratory games, those who enjoy scares of tomorrow, those who wonder what may come out of eksperimenting on animals, good vs bad, morally chalenged stories, all of them will very much enjoy thrill of watching this movie.

wow simply a stunning film. great effects and a really good story. one of the best this year !

Anyone who criticizes Rise of the Planet of the Apes for not developing its human characters as well as it develops its title characters is missing a few important points. First of all, the apes are the central characters here, and therefore, deserve to enjoy much more development than the humans on screen. Secondly, these apes are a thousand times better developed and display much more emotion than the dozens upon dozens of one-dimensional human characters who rear their ugly heads in multiplexes, especially during the summer. This second point is what makes the film work much better than we'd ever expect it to and to position itself above the mostly pedestrian fare that the 2011 summer blockbuster season has offered us. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a supremely entertaining cinematic offering, and the fact that, like Wall-E three years ago, it manages to accomplish that through characters who hardly ever say anything makes it even more of an impressive feat.

I expect a lot of people won't be aware of this, but this isn't the first time that James Franco has shared living quarters with an ape that is initially quiet and eventually starts talking. In 2005, he directed and starred in The Ape, in which he played a writer who moves to an apartment alone in order to have much-needed privacy so he can focus on his writing. But soon, he realizes that he's not alone in the apartment, because there's a talking monkey also living there. Human and ape form a turbulent relationship and it all goes ridiculously haywire from there. The movie went straight to DVD, so um, you can imagine how good it is. Thankfully, things are different (and much better) in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in which he plays Will, a scientist who's performing experiments on apes to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Problems arise, the experiments are shut down, and an order is given to get rid of all the apes, but Will manages to save a newborn and take him home. We then discover that Will's participation in the experiments has a very personal layer to it: his father has Alzheimer's. Will and his father decide to name the ape Caesar, and they raise him as though he were a member of their family. As you'll predict, things get complicated once the years pass and Caesar becomes an adult ape.

The early scenes in which the ape is being raised in Will's house benefit from never entering cartoonish territory, even in the scenes in which Caesar gets into scuffles with Will's neighbor. However, there's no doubt that the best material the film has to offer comes once it's discovered that Will has been keeping Caesar in the house, and is forced to put him in a place in which several other apes are kept together, especially because the always fantastic Brian Cox enters the movie at this point. The very best moments in the film are the ones in which there's no dialogue at all and the apes simply communicate with one another. There are times at which subtitles are necessary, but it never feels like a gimmick. The reason why these scenes are so great has to do with the fact that the CGI is truly top notch, and in the case of Caesar's role as the film's central character, the greatness is amplified by the fact that he's played by the fantastic, utterly brilliant Andy Serkis (who also gave unforgettable renditions of Smeagol/Gollum and King Kong, back when Peter Jackson was making great films just a few years ago). Serkis breathes so much life and fury into the protagonist that there are times at which it's almost too much to take.

The final act of the film is meant to embody the film's title, as the apes (including Caesar) escape from the place where they're being held and begin swarming the cities. There are plenty of effective aerial shots that depict said "swarming" as the stampede of apes move into the city areas. The final action sequence (which takes place on a bridge) doesn't quite have the panache needed to make for a searing last half hour, though I do appreciate the fact that the farewell that takes place during the film's final few seconds has JUST the right amount of sentimentality, and doesn't go overboard with it, which it easily could've done.

Like I said, while one could wallow in the criticism that the humans in the film don't feel as "human" as they should, it's hard to ignore the fact that these apes feel more like living, breathing characters than the average guy in tights who shows up on screens during the summer months. I understand the reasons that led Academy voters not to consider Serkis for a nomination for his masterful and humanistic work as Gollum, which made the character by turns hilarious, pathetic and frightening. But regardless of how much of it comes from the perfomance and how much of it comes from the CGI, Serkis has created some truly fascinating on-screen personas, and his work as the character that dominates the running time of Rise of the Planet of the Apes is further proof of that.