"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" -- Reviewed

The movie trailers for this film looked decent and curiosity sank in with me over time. I was going to see the film anyway but never expected it to be so well made. Most all of the reviews that came in all praised the film overwhelmingly.

The special effects were top of the line but what really pushed the film to greatness was Andy Serkis' work as the chimp, Caesar. There is even Oscar talk with him. To display such emotion without uttering words is something that is extremely hard to do. Honestly, I think Serkis deserves an Oscar, especially after his work as Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

The rest of the cast that included James Franco and John Lithgow do a decent job supporting as the true star of the show is Caesar and, well, the rise of the apes.

The writing was decent with a few occasional cheese but overall the film just works. It entertains and remains provocative. The action and special effects aren't simply there but they compliment the film and the story.

The film actually makes you root for the apes as they are subjected to terrible tests for human's betterment. It's only when these apes are able to think for themselves that everything changes. Of course this is done when an ape, subjected to a cognitive super powered drug, sees how his kind is treated and decides to do something about it. What was interesting is that Caesar sees the good in some humans(he was raised by humans) and is not out to essentially kill any humans but to rather rise above them.

This prequel nicely fits in to what later occurs in the original "Planet of the Apes". This is probably my 2nd favorite film of the summer minus "Super 8".

Overall Grade: A-