Very good, but...

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2011)

Like so many who've commented here, I, too, was surprised by how good this film was. I remember how brilliant the first Planet of the Apes was back in 1968, and how progressively dreadful were its sequels. And Burton's laughably poor 2001 remake seemed like a possible final nail in the coffin for the Apes genre. But Rise of the Planet of the Apes does rise to the occasion. The film is the prequel to the original Apes film, and while the director was not 100% true to the proposed history from the original Apes films, his version is much more believable and cohesive. While the film relies heavily on CGI, the story is not completely subverted by it. I admit that I found some of the more exaggerated computerized leaping about by the apes a bit over the top, but overall the film showed reasonable restraint. The story is the director's main focus. (And many kudos to John Lithgow who gave a superb albeit heartbreaking performance as an Alzheimer's sufferer). There is, however, something missing. In the 1968 original, there were two scenes that to this day still give me chills. The first was when an ape first appeared in the film (brilliantly punctuated by Jerry Goldsmith's music score), and the second scene was the famous, now iconographic ending. The original Planet of the Apes wasn't just another sci-fi movie; it was philosophical, satirical, thought provoking and effective in its use of cinematic language. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a thoroughly entertaining 105 minutes, but there was nothing profound, and it would be nice to see something profound again.