Rise to the top of the movies

Rating: 9/10 (7 August 2011)

I will start out with a very bold statement in saying that in my opinion this is the best movie of 2011 thus far. The cast is amazing including an incredibly talented Andy Serkis who gives Caesar more emotion than most human actors in films today. The script is riddled with great dialogue and although there are a few cliché's it doesn't hinder the film. All the apes look realistic and extremely lifelike to the the point that you'd swear they were all real and the trainer was just off camera. The last half hour is devoted to an action sequence involving the apes and the Golden Gate bridge. There are a number of truly brilliant shots that follow the apes as they move around the environment, and several tracking shots that blew my mind at how well executed they were. This is one of very few times, where I have walked out of a theatre wanting a sequel. Forgive me if I am gushing but I loved this film and cannot help laugh in a way because it's a movie about Apes and the humans are secondary characters. Another unexpected fascination was that the Ape learned sign language and used that to communicate with his owner (franco) and other Apes. They never speak, but the way they act and their facial expressions say it all. Everyone should watch this, especially those familiar with the original film.