the apes are back and better then ever!

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2011)

When they first announced that they were making yet another film related to planet of the apes franchise i literally groaned at the idea. To me it seemed like the studio was simply trying breath life into an old franchise in order to squeeze a couple more bucks out of it. However, after finally seeing the movie I'm happy to say that my original fears were in fact false, and that for the first time in years we finally have a well made planet of the apes movie.
to start with, at first glance one would think this film is a prequel to the original film, but after watching it first hand I believe it is mostly a re-boot and the beginning of a whole new apes trilogy separate from the original films(like Batman Begins was the start of a whole new batman trilogy.) This fact alone helps the film a lot because it sets up many new ideas and situations that the original film series never tackled, therefore it keeps the audience guessing what is to come, which is always a problem when making a prequel.
Anyway one of the films biggest strengths is its apes. Unlike previous films the apes in this film are brought to life through digital motion capture technology. Many might argue that people in prosthetic suits could have easily portrayed the apes, but for this film they would be wrong because the apes in this film have to act like real apes, which the digital technology helps make look and act very convincing. The effects they use to create the apes are nearly perfect from their facial expressions, to there body postures and movement. At times i almost forgot i was watching digital animals. On top of the technical achievements, what makes these apes truly great is the honest emotion and personality that they express, especially from the lead ape Cesar. Played by the master of motion capture Andy serkis. In this role Andy brings the same skills that he brought to Gollum and King Kong and once again brings to life a character that you both genuinely care about and route for as his story progresses. James Franco may get top billing as the leading man, but there's no denying the Cesar steals the show. And its not just Cesar, the other apes like the orangutan, the Gorilla named buck, and some of the other chimps showed some great emotions and personality that made you both attached to them and think of them as characters. half the time they were better actors then some of the humans I'm not going to get much into the overall plot, but I'm going to say that some of the best parts of the film were the scenes where James Franco's character and Cesar bod in a very heart warming way. But the movie really takes off when Cesar is taken to the ape sanctuary. Its these scenes that are the most interesting because its the pivotal moment where Cesar's life gets turned upside down, and he's forced to realize how cruel humans can be. Watching him go from being the helpless ape, to a leader to all the other apes was very fun and at times terrifying to watch. also some of my favorite moments were also watching Cesar develop his relationships between the other apes like the orangutan was also very well done( the end scene between him and the gorilla buck was actually very touching.) In the end Rise of the apes is a truly well made film. There were some flaws here and there, but nothing that really detracted from the whole experience. Once again this film proved that great effects and a good story and characters can co-exist peacefully in a summer movie. In reality its not really the rise of the apes, its actually the rise of a new trilogy that has a lot of potential