Another Horrible Ape Instalment

Rating: 2/10 (14 January 2012)

Despite being a huge fan of James Franco, when the trailers started for this film, the seventh instalment of the "Planet of the Apes" franchise, all I could think was "Really?" I was sure it was a guaranteed flop. Then the film got released and not only was it one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, there were numerous critics who PRAISED this film.
And I cannot begin to figure out why.
I had absolutely no interest in this film at all, especially with the 2001 remake having been such a joke, but found myself curious enough to watch it on a long flight between California and Hawaii. Seeing it was free, and I had nothing but time to waste, I thought sitting through it would at least give me the right to an opinion rather than blindly passing judgement. But my assumption of the film was right. It is absolute crap.
Franco plays a scientist developing a serum to combat Alzheimer's and decides to try testing on chimps. Long story short, the serum is so effective, the chimps figure out how to break out of the lab and take over the Golden Gate Bridge. Yeah, all those action scenes you saw in the trailer? Every single one is from the last fifteen to twenty minutes of the film.
And although the special effects are impressive enough, that, in no way, makes up for the rest of this ridiculously cheesy and horrible film.
Even monkeys would be smart enough to avoid this one. So maybe that does prove that chimps are actually smarter than the movie-going masses. Watching a film about a man trying to cure Alzheimer's actually managed to make me feel like a moron for having thought this film might actually have some merit.