Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes. We have the background story (or is that appropriate since this is considered a re-boot and technically we don't really know what the future holds for humans vs. apes) to how the apes came to rule earth. Will Rodman (James Franco) is attempting to find a cure for Alzheimer's, a disease that his father, Charles Rodman (John Lithgow), has. The experiments are carried out on apes and show promise. Something goes horribly wrong as one of the apes destroys the facilities. The experiment is shut down and the apes are killed, but a baby ape is taken home by Will. This ape called Caesar was exposed to the new drug via his now dead mother. Will quickly finds out that Caesar is a very intelligent ape.

I know this movie is getting great reviews and the audience loves it -- as can be seen by the fact that it is the number one film for the second weekend in a row.  I'm not as high on it as others, I suspect.  I enjoyed the film, but I'm not raving about it.  I suppose it might have something to do with my bias against "background story" sort of movies like Batman Begins.  But let's be clear, this is a fun summer movie.  My one serious issue:  Freida Pinto (Will's girlfriend, Caroline Aranha) is almost like a throwaway character.  Too bad.  They could have given her more depth.

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