An absolutely fantastic reboot/prequel

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2014)

I never thought I would see the day that a CGI ape could be argued to being one of the best performances in recent memory and it is truly justified. This film was marketed as James Franco in the lead with Caesar being a slightly lesser character but this is Caesar's film and Andy Serkis is absolutely fantastic in this role which is incredible. I felt for this ape more then most human characters in any film and it truly provided lots of emotion to this character. Franco's character is also really good and his chemistry is great with Caesar which truly builds the foundations of this film. Franco's father in the film is a good character as well as he bridged the gap between Franco and Caesar and the combination of the two roles. Franco's girlfriend and the villains weren't really expanded and aren't a real strength of the film which is the only reason it doesn't get a ten out of ten. The story is a great Caesar origin story and it provides a real twist in the film that makes you feel even more sympathetic for this character. The script is one of the best around and the lack of dialogue by Caesar is the key to why he is such a fascinating character and why he carries this film. The style is fantastic as well with the way the apes moved and the way they interacted all culminating in the great last half of the film. This film is fantastic and a great start to these new apes films.