An excellent start to a future franchise.

Rating: Null/10 (20 August 2011)

Despite not being a sequel to Tim Burton's film, I found this one very enjoyable even though I enjoyed Burton's film on some levels and on it's merits alone. With everything being established so far, it's all falling into place; starting with the one stone that causes a ripple in a pond. The pond that is mankind. A pond that is civilized by the laws created by man, but in actuality is as primitive and violent as nature and the many creatures that inhabit it. What this film does is give the viewer intense retrospection into our own collective mentality and society as a whole. Man has killed, enslaved, and brutalize each other for centuries and continue to do so under foolish, violent, and selfish reasons. Are we, as the human race, that much different from animals? Are we really the dominant species that we purport ourselves to be? Or are we so blind in our own arrogance and self-contempt that we fail to see the error of our own collective psyche? Those are the questions that abound in this film with a script and acting to further them into the overall story. The story is simple, but as it goes on, it becomes more and more complex as the intelligence of the apes increase to extraordinary and dangerous levels which lead to catastrophic results for the human race. Though I liked James Franco's performance, I was really touched by John Lithgow's character as the father suffering from Altzeimher's disease. It felt so real, so emotional, that it was almost unbearable to sit through. Fortunately, there's some humorous moments to lighten up a tense, dark story. My only gripe is Frieda Pinto's character; she doesn't seem all that fitting to be the love interest of the protagonist. To me, she was the weakest link to the movie, but thankfully that's only a minor quibble that I have with.
Although I(along with many others) have praise for this film, I suppose some say it's more or less on par with Burton's film; which despite it's own merits and awesome premise with beautiful set design and well-written dialog, failed to really connect with the audience on an emotional level. But with this film, it makes much more of an impression by giving us a real emotional connection with the apes and human characters. This can be attributed to the fact that it's set in our modern world, rather than a planet far away, giving the film a sense of realism that the previous film lacked. If there's any indication that a film of this quality can have the success that it has already achieved, then it's a sure bet that more good things are to come in future films as mankind finds itself awakening to a whole new reality, one in which it's core foundation will be ultimately challenged.