Unlike the 2001 remake, the apes succeed this time

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2011)

It's 2011 and here we have yet another Planet of the Apes movie. But could this one actually be incredibly good?
With this Ape movie we get James Franco playing Will Rodman, he works for a company that is trying to use apes to make a new drug that will possibly cure Alzheimer's. After his main test subject is killed, he finds out it had a baby which is now without a home. He ends up bringing the ape, Caesar, into his home where he lives with his father (John Lithgow) who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Over the years they all bond and become a happy family, teaching Caesar humanly traits and how to be a kind loving person. An incident happens involving a neighbor and Caesar is sent to live in a facility run by Brian Cox and his son played by Tom Felton. While living there he would have the chance to interact with other apes, which he has never had the chance to do before. Over time he is mistreated by the people who run the facility and has given up hope of Will ever coming to his rescue, so he uses he knowledge to get the other apes on his side and eventually break out and dominate the humans.
This movie really took me, and I'm sure most people, by surprise. The last Planet of the Apes movie we got was the 2001 Tim Burton remake that was all around ridiculous. With this movie, we get a new take on how the apes came to be almost human and tried to take over and it all works out quite well. It's always great to see that some people can still make a prequel, remake, or sequel and it actually be really good.
While James Franco does a great job in the lead role here the real star is Caesar, who is played by Andy Serkis in the same way he played King Kong and Gollum. Every movement and action Caesar makes all looks as real as can be and it makes you actually believe there's an ape on screen doing human activities. John Lithgow also provides a good performance in the movie as well. The rest of the cast is fine but most of their characters are mostly one dimensional, especially a character played by Slumdog Millionaire's Frieda Pinto who is sort of the love interest for Franco's character.
As far as the visuals for this movie go, they are pretty stunning. All the apes, gorillas, and orangutangs look as real as they can be. Director Rupert Wyatt really lets us get a feel for this animals and shows us that they are just like humans in a lot of ways. He also gives us characters we can care about like Will, his father, and especially Caesar.
The summer movie season this year has been pretty good I would say, but they were definitely saving one of the best for last to end the summer on a very high note.
Rating: 8.5/10