Rise of The Planet of The Apes - Review

Released on August 5, starring James Franco, and clocking in at a very brisk 105 minutes, "Rise" grossed almost half-a-billion dollars worldwide. Although closely resembling the premise of the fourth film in the original series, 1972's "Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes", this film is by all accounts not a true remake, but rather a re-envisioning of the ideas set forth in the original five films. Speaking of which, the 1968 original starring Charlton Heston was groundbreaking for it's use with prosthetic makeup -- and 2011's reboot similarly breaks ground with it's use of performance capture technology - Andy Serkis's portrayal of the CGI ape "Caesar" is a remarkable achievement, and easily the stand-out character in the film. Resembling elements of "Deep Blue Sea", the plot follows Franco, playing a scientist who is searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease by testing a radical gene therapy drug on a series of chimps. Things go wrong at the lab, and Franco is forced to raise a baby monkey at home, and continue his research there. Years later, this chimp, Caesar, shows signs of advanced intelligence, and unfortunately, aggression as well. When he's placed in the San Bruno Primate Sanctuary, he uses more canisters of the magic drug on the rest of his ape prisoners, and attempts to start an evolution revolution. Unlike the original, there is very little here in way of political commentary - the ape revolt is hardly analogous to issues with society. Even still though, the story is fascinating, and well-told - with great performances by most of the cast. I say most, since Freida Pinto's contribution to the story as Franco's love-interest was severely lacking in terms of development, and screen time. I'm honestly not even sure what the point of her character was. John Lithgow, playing the Alzheimer's-stricken father however does a terrific job playing opposite his primate counterpart. -CLIP- As we watch Caesar struggle with his identity, we're treated with some terrific references and throw-backs to the Heston-era "Apes", some subtle, and some very overt: one iconic line from the original comes back during a momentous scene here. More or less a cautionary tale about the dangers of oppressing our five-fingered friends, "Rise", although beautifully executed is nothing more than an entertaining sci-fi action film with incredibly impressive computer animation. There is some great depth and arc to Caesar's character, and a third-act sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge is truly thrilling - but there's no real message here, and the film barely deviates from it's very predictable conclusion. This reboot is a far cry from the achievements of the 1968 original. It is definitely fun and exciting though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it - the final scene that very clearly hints at a one or more sequels will leave you wanting more from this classic franchise. "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes", a "Fresh reboot with impressive apes". That was my review, now lets read some of yours from the YouTube comments. Here again is the Rate-O-Matic to rank "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes"... an EIGHT and a NINE. This was a great film, and definitely a worthwhile entry in the classic sci-fi franchise, that will now hopefully be introduced to a newer generation. You thought the film was awesome, many praising the outstanding CGI work, that really makes Caesar a leading character here, and not just an animal.