Rise of the Planet of the Apes (16/08/11)

An origin story set in present day San Francisco, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

Rise of the Apes just wasn’t a succinct enough title. Despite the overly long title, the film was good! A pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting much, if I’m honest. Perhaps my lower expectations made me enjoy the film a little bit more.

Everyone’s talking about Andy Serkis’ performance as Caesar and a bunch of other apes. Don’t get me wrong, I think the capture was brilliant. There was definitely a level of humanity brought to Caesar that some of the human characters didn’t have. But has that got more to do with the almost flawless computer graphics? Someone educate me here! Caesar did bring me to tears on more than one occasion. He was definitely more than just a CG character.

James Franco and John Lithgow were fantastic in the film. John Lithgow made a small role so much larger and I could get behind James’ Will Rodman. David Oyewolo’s Jacobs was an infuriating character who was there to be just that! Well, it felt like it. I couldn’t understand him at all.

Second summer film with a score by Patrick Doyle – I’ll be buying that. It was a good, solid orchestral score which really backed up some of the more dramatic and action scenes as well as supporting the low-key, emotive scenes.

One development that Caesar made in the film made me laugh. I don’t think it was meant to. Thankfully, it wasn’t just me, but quite a lot of people in the cinema laughed as well. I didn’t think it was necessary, but clearly someone thought they needed to go there!

There were plenty of throwbacks to the original Ape films and King Kong. I was keeping my eyes and ears out for more, I know I missed plenty.

So, are they going to do a series of Ape films now then? With the little bit about the Icarus and it being lost in space. I’m hoping they do, if they can be like this film – entertaining, solid but simple story and a handful of decent characters.
Rating: 4/5

Read on to see the entire list of movies seen this year so far:

67 Movies so far this Year

1. The Horse Whisperer 3/5 (1/1/1)
2. The Informant! 3/5 (09/01/11)
3. The Fighter 4/5 (11/01/11)
4. 127 Hours 5/5 (14/01/11)
5. The Wolfman 3/5 (15/01/11)
6. Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story 4/5 (16/01/11)
7. The King’s Speech 5/5 (19/01/11)
8. The Town 4/5 (20/01/11)
9. Ninja Assassin 2/5 (24/01/11)
10. He’s Just Not That Into You 1/5 (25/01/11)
11. Imagine That 1/5 (27/01/11)
12. Gentlemen Broncos 2/5 (04/02/11)
13. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale 4/5 (06/02/11)
14. Daybreakers 3/5 (12/02/11)
15. The Book of Eli 2/5 (13/02/11)
16. True Grit 4/5 (15/02/11)
17. Red 1/5 (19/02/11)
18. Invictus 3/5 (20/02/11)
19. Coraline 2/5 (28/02/11)
20. Juno 3/5 (02/03/11)
21. Monsters vs. Aliens 1/5 (06/03/11)
22. Jennifer’s Body 2/5 (06/03/11)
23. Rango 4/5 (09/03/11)
24. The Crazies 4/5 (11/03/11)
25. Lakeview Terrace 1/5 (12/03/11)
26. Battle: Los Angeles 3/5 (13/03/11)
27. Submarine 4/5 (14/03/11)
28. The Adjustment Bureau 2/5 (16/03/11)
29. Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief 2/5 (18/03/11)
30. The Happening 1/5 (19/03/11)
31. Sucker Punch 2/5 (02/04/11)
32. Carriers 1/5 (03/04/11)
33. Source Code 4/5 (06/04/11)
34. 3:10 to Yuma 3/5 (09/04/11)
35. Walking Tall 1/5 (12/04/11)
36. Your Highness 3/5 (13/04/11)
37. El Mariachi 3/5 (14/03/11)
38. From Paris With Love 3/5 (15/04/11)
39. Scream 4 3/5 (16/04/11)
40. Hot Tub Time Machine 2/5 (17/04/11)
41. Attack the Block 4/5 (20/04/11)
42. The International 2/5 (23/04/11)
43. Thor 5/5 (25/04/11)
44. Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist 5/5 (28/04/11)
45. A Beautiful Mind 4/5 (06/05/11)
46. Extract 2/5 (05/05/11)
47. Hanna 4/5 (06/05/11)
48. Catfish 3/5 (07/05/11)
49. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2/5 (20/05/11)
50. The Hangover Part II 3/5 (27/05/11)
51. How to Train Your Dragon 4/5 (28/05/11)
52. Zodiac 4/5 (28/05/11)
53. Up in the Air 5/5 (30/05/11)
54. X-Men: First Class 4/5 (01/06/11)
55. Electra Luxx 3/5 (04/06/11)
56. The Usual Suspects 5/5 (05/06/11)
57. Senna 5/5 (10/06/11)
58. The Human Centipede 1/5 (10/06/11)
59. Green Lantern 2/5 (17/06/11)
60. Paul 3/5 (18/06/11)
61. Transformers: Dark of the Moon 4/5 (29/06/11)
62. Predators 2/5 (30/07/11)
63. Captain America: The First Avenger 3/5 (31/07/11)
64. Super 8 5/5 (11/08/11)
65. The Secret in Their Eyes 5/5 (13/08/11)
66. [Rec] 2 3/5 (14/08/11)
67. Rise of the Planet of the Apes 4/5 (16/08/11)