Cesar is home.....

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2011)

the surprise film of the summer, is a beautifully made movie, giving the audience empathy for the Simian characters in the movie.
Playing as a prequel to the famous film franchise, the story is simple, but very involving.
Scientists are experimenting a new drug that could cure Alzheimer's on apes that have been taken from their natural habitat. One ape responds well to the drug and is named 'Bright Eyes' because of an effect the drug has on the iris.
Investors are called in to fund the project, but Bright Eyes goes a little 'ape'. But no one knew that she was protecting her new born. The project gets shut down and all the apes are exterminated bar the baby, who is taken home by James Franco.
Franco father has the disease, and Franco is fighting to make the drug work, so he tries it out on his father, with spectacular results. Unbeknown to Franco until later on, the baby ape who is named Cesar, inherited the genius effect of the drug his mother had, and becomes more intelligent by the day.
years pass, and the wonder drug has no effect on Francos dad, who is attacked by his neighbour. Cesar protects him, but is taken away to a sanctuary.
then he begins to turn on mankind.....
it was one of those films that I saw was being made a long time ago, and I thought why? Burtons movie was bad, is this some sort of Schumacher thing? How wrong I as, because in one of the most disappointing summers ever, this is the shining light of the pack.
It's not just a spectacular movie to watch (The effects are seamless, and should win an academy award), but the character development is second to none, you actually care for Franco, even though deep down, what he is doing is frowned upon by millions, but his cause is just.
But it is a very disturbing movie to watch. As you probably would expect from this sort of movie, Cesar is mistreated once he gets into the sanctuary by the owners and especially Tom Felton (who may prove that he could be the dark horse for post Potter careers), and this is what i mean by the audience empathising with the apes.
They have just cause to escape and make a life on their own, it's just that the humans are getting in the way.
It's an uneasy watch, but the transformation of Cesar from loving animal, to 'coldish' hearted leader, is one of the main reasons why this film works in so many ways.
There are a couple of flaws. In this, the bad guys are really 'bad', making it easier for the audience to get over the death of a human quicker, and the inclusion of Cesar talking toward the end is a little off putting, and can be deemed quite offencive toward the viewer. We know he is intelligent, we didn't need to see him talk.
But these are just really minor quibbles, in what is the surprise movie of the year.
It really needs checking out for the great story, performances and Serkis at this best.
Thankyou Hollywood for giving the blockbuster period a movie that requires a little thought for once.