Impressive and surprising!

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2012)

I was greatly impressed by this new Planet of the apes film. Since the successful reboot of Batman reboots have become way popular in Hollywood maybe too so. But after Tim Burton's Planet of the apes remake I think reboot was the only way to go with the series. And whats more this is not just starting the same story over again. Insteed they have managed to create something fresh. This film focuses very much on the drama and it really works. There will be action but the emotional themes work great. So much that it never starts to drag, go over the top or just feeling out of place. The story has clear themes of moral values which at least for me made an impression and actually were the main thing making this film so worth following, not just the action. Not saying that there is no action because the is and is is really well done. Through the movie there is quite some talking about science but it nothing that you need to follow closely and it is of course most made up fictional but is is successfully used to ask questions of moral, animal rights and science gone to far. The effects used to create the apes are absolutely brilliant. Made in the same way I guess as Gollum in Lord of the rings and also starring Andy Serkis. Without these effects the emotional substance that the film manages would have been lost even though for the story's sentimental themes. James Franco might not look entirely believable as a scientist as he still looks quite young but it doesn't matter for the movie and he makes it up with a great performance in bringing the right emotional feeling for the relation to the other characters. Fun to see Tom Felton in his big first post Harry Potter film. He plays the same kind of bastard as in those movies.
This is the most different Planet of the apes movie. Focusing on emotional substance instead of the dystopian themes of the previous movies. I really liked Rise of the planets of the apes and would rank it as second best in the series after the first one.