The Best Blockbuster Since "X-Men: First Class"

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2011)

Rise of Planet of the Apes (which I will now refer to as Planet for obvious reasons) has had lots of marketing in the last few weeks, and all of it portrays this movie to be a chaotic disaster/action film. Fortunately, while mayhem rears itself in the climax, Planet is more of a suspense drama that tautly engrosses its viewers through expert storytelling, spellbinding performances, a well-wrought script, and stunning visuals.
I find no need to give a detailed plot summary, because most of the plot is given away in the trailer. Basically, our hero Will Rodman develops ALZ-112, the cure for Alzheimer's disease, while testing on chimps. However, his key chimp goes bananas and is shot. After the drug is discarded and the apes put down, Will discovers the ape's baby that the drug passed on to and decides to raise it for himself. However, as time passes, the super-smart ape Caesar begins to clash with his neighbors, his origins, and his place in the world.
From the beginning, Planet is a thoroughly gripping movie. The dialogue is genuine, the characters are more than relatable, and most of all, the ape visuals are frighteningly real. James Franco lays down a solid performance as Will, and right off the bat makes the viewer care about his character. The co-stars (especially John Lithgow as Will's unfortunate father) also allow the viewers to invest emotionally, but the true star is Andy Serkis's Caesar. From his early playful and curious antics to his shock and fear among the other apes, Andy's digitally rendered performance awes us. When the climax arrives, his presence is downright commanding. That signifies true acting power.
The level of design that went into the visual side of Planet is immeasurable. Yes, we are not debating whether or not the apes are real, but they hold our attention nonetheless. For instance, the ape integration scene when the apes are first out of their cages together is inspired. Also, the apes truly acted like you would expect apes to act, and therefore added to the realism.
The scriptwriting, while not "whip-smart" like some have described, is perfectly balanced, providing a rising tension and an air of dread unmatched by nearly all movies this year. I was genuinely surprised by how powerful the writing was, and how ready the audience was for the finale.
There are very few flaws with this movie, but there are enough to name. Freida Pinto's character Caroline, while well-acted, seemed unnecessary and under-written, almost as if she was added in as an afterthought, or as if she was expendable. Also, Tom Felton's nasty character was just plain stupid. Not only did he make illogical decisions in nearly every moment of his screen time (the hose/electrical prod scene was groan worthy on his part), but I also find it hard to believe that someone as irresponsible and brutal as him would find work in an ape house. After all, apes are not dogs, and I'm sure the humane society would have regular check-ups.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Also, Jacobs death scene was out of place. The entire sequence played out like the audience was supposed to be horrified, but instead afterwards we realize that this should have felt like the death of the villain and we should be satisfied. But that kind of didn't make sense considering Jacobs wasn't nasty enough to be a main villain.
*END SPOILER*
Finally, small plot holes litter the script. Why did Will still have the updated drug in his fridge long after his father's death? How did no one realize that their neighbor had an ape for five years? How did this elite company not notice some of their breakthrough drug go missing?
On a side note, did anyone else have trouble with the names? I felt like the only names i remembered were "Caesar" and "Bright Eyes". Everyone else I had to nickname names like "James Franco", "the girlfriend", "the bloody nose dude", "the black boss", "the nasty blonde dude", etc. Maybe its just me, so I won't detract stars.
In any case, Planet is an engrossing movie. Not in just the visual "Avatar" sense, but also emotionally. It is exhilarating, smart, and entertaining. Rise of the Planet of the Apes comes highly recommended.