Monday, July 14, 2014

'RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES' Movie Review

Just in time for the upcoming release of 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes', I've recently decided to view this film again. First time since originally seeing it in the cinema back in 2011.

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' is directed by Rupert Wyatt and it stars James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox and Tom Felton.
While rewatching this I couldn't help but notice the constant relatable scenes and the similar feeling I had while watching a recent film about an intelligent chimpanzee called 'Project Nim'(click here for review).

There is no doubt that I spotted many familiar scenes and references however the tone is different as well as the story and the aimed outcome.
This film is about a new born chimpanzee named 'Ceasar'. Born from a lab tested primate undergoing tests to increase intelligence Ceasar is born with similar genes. As he gets older he exceeds exponentially in tasks no other human his age can achieve. After being, to what he believes is, abandoned and mistreated he starts a revolution along with his primate buddies to step up where he believes to fit in society.

'Rise' has a strong tone to it. It knows exactly what it is in regards to a summer action packed blockbuster. It can show dangerous, intense scenes and it isn't afraid to take on a direction we hadn't experienced in movies at the time.
The CGI work is incredible, so good its unbelievably good. Every primate character looks superb and completely realistic down the fur, movement and behaviour. Understandably it may not be perfect, I get that we're talking about a movie here but for the time CGI is used to it's greatest potential. It's simply excellent and a joy to watch.

I do however have some problems with it. Most scenes that reinforce the buildup to the revolution might tend to drag on a little. Along with the constant enclosed space of the ape house that kind of resembles a prison there isn't much to show for in regards to entertainment. Sure it's smart and sure it's builds up tension but with what I'm seeing doesn't look visually appealing then I start to doze off, for just a little while.

What I found to be a little lacking were the acting, we have James Franco and Freida Pinto playing average citizens and it's all they are in their acting 'average'. Take the character Dodge Landon for example, played by Tom Felton, you know he's an asshole you can see it too but did I feel it? Not so much, so for the scenes that he was involved in it felt a little wasted. For a film like this I believe that the soft tone acting should've been reserved for something else and giving their role it's absolute all could've left us with a profound and exhilarating effect. Seeing that Ceasar is the main character here it could make sense that he needs to own every scene to represent his strong character but this just leaves other scenes a little weak.
Overall 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' can be seen as a great movie that touches on rising(no pun intended, well maybe) to your worthy spot in society. It an excellent popcorn movie for those who love intense action, bold twists and spectacular CGI apes. In my opinion, if more time was spent on tweeting the other performances then this movie would've owned a higher score.

My rating for 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' is a 7.5/10.

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