It's pretty amazing how a film like this can get the viewer to turn so quickly on their own race!

Rating: 8/10 (10 August 2011)

'RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES': Four Stars (Out of Five)
Prequel/reboot to the 1968 classic science fiction film 'PLANET OF THE APES'. This film tells the origin story of how apes originally evolved and started an uprising against the human race. It's sort of a remake of the fourth film in the original 'PLANET OF THE APES' series, 1972's 'CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES' (since that film went back in time and told a similar story) but it's more of a fresh reboot to a totally new series than anything else. It was directed by Rupert Wyatt and written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (who have experience in the sci-fi/horror genre co-writing films like 1997's 'THE RELIC' and 1992's 'THE HAND THAT ROCKED THE CRADLE'). The film is full of spectacular visual effects (but surprisingly wasn't released in 3D) and is a much more satisfying re-imagining than Tim Burton's 2001 remake.
James Franco stars as Will Rodman, a scientist working for a genetic therapy pharmaceutical company. Will is hard at work trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, motivated by his father Charles (John Lithgow) who is a victim of it. He's testing a new drug out on lab apes and one shows remarkable promise. When the ape goes crazy defending it's baby, that no one knew she was pregnant with, all the apes are ordered put down and the experiment is canceled. Will secretly takes the baby home with him and continues doing tests on it. His father bonds with it and names it Ceaser (he's played as an adult by Andy Serkis, through motion capture filming). What Will and Charles don't know is that Caesar will one day lead his fellow apes in a rebellion and when he's sent to an ape holding facility the world as we know it is forever changed. Freida Pinto (of 'SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE' fame) co-stars as a veterinarian Will falls for.
The CGI is breathtaking, it's finally gotten to a point where the creatures they bring to life on screen look much more real than actors in costumes do. That's one of the ways this is far superior to Burton's 'ape' film. Serkis's performance is outstanding and he brings a lot of heart to the film through it. Lithgow also gives a 'heart tugging' performance but Pinto is wasted here. She's proved she can act as well as look stunningly beautiful but with this the filmmakers obviously just wanted her to look pretty. Her character is not developed at all and pretty much the only point of her even being there is to fill the void of a human female presence. Franco is good and relatable at times but he's done better work (he's also done worse though). Brian Cox, David Oyelowo and Tom Felton (of 'HARRY POTTER' fame) all make great antagonists (especially Felton, which he's now beginning to be typecast as). One of the biggest strengths of the film is how much it makes you loath the humans and root for the apes. Besides Franco, Lithgow and Pinto none of the other humans in the film are very likable and the rest of the human population is portrayed as pretty hateful and morally deprived. It's pretty amazing how a film like this can get the viewer to turn so quickly on their own race. The rebellion of the film is very involving and impressively built up to (but it plays a pretty small part of the actual film). There's almost nothing more satisfying in my opinion than watching tormented victims get the upper hand on their oppressors. This is where the film really works (Wyatt really did a good job directing the film in that way). The writing and acting is decent as well but it's the emotional build up and striking visuals that really make the film worth while. If you're a fan of the series you'll almost definitely enjoy this new installment.
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