Ape Caesar the Ruler!

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2011)

I am a passionate fan of the classic APES series and even the 2001 Tim Burton "Planet of the Apes" film I find it well done, contemporary, exciting and hilarious especially Tim Roth as Thade. Ten years latter, a new species of Ape Film(s) is born, a prequel and of course the watchful eyes of fans and critics alike are discerning and sometimes unforgiving. I wanted to be one of the first to experience the hype on opening day and boy, glad I did because I had a wonderful time not only watching but also immersing myself in this great, terrifying, funny and emotional blockbuster. Those who got up and left soon as the credits were rolling missed an important message, actually two: there will be a sequel to this prequel and an epilogue that I consider homage to the hypothesis that a very well known virus in the '70 or '80 was developed in a laboratory, somewhere in the world, accidentally or not got into targeted population and spread by an airline employee.
Back to the film and it's ape star named Caesar (the conqueror) with whom we sympathize from the very beginning even if he turns against our kind, we can't get enough of his mind, emotion and actions. Caesar rules the film and the audience almost silently, but who need words when you have body language, sing language and fantastic facial expressions. To me these are the entertainment values in a blockbuster, not to mention the battle scenes, conflict of interests and the human drama played remarkably by John Lithgow who is James Franco's ailing father. Technically, this great synergy of technology and human action works well in the film and we can expect a lot more in the coming years. Evolution of the motion pictures according to Hollywood is nothing but art, excitement and entertainment as it is this fine film: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.