User reviews

There are so many things right about this movie, the little things that are wrong are easily forgiven. Some slight plot holes, but the film and characters make up for it. The chemistry between Franco and Pinto is weak, however Franco plays his part. Lithgow is always a great asset to any production, and does a great job here.

Albeit you know the chimps are CGI, their eyes look amazing, with depth and personality, and along with their body language and facial animations, you really do forget they are CGI. The music is powerful and tense, and I loved the way it builds up through out the movie. Starting with light orchestra at the beginning, while starting to feel very tribal without overdoing it towards the end.

There are moments that are truly gratifying, and Caeser really steals the show with his evolution through out the movie. The journey Caeser takes really connects and you feel his plight. With moments of thought, heart and action, Rise really hits the mark for the audience it's aiming for.

Excellent entertainment all round!

Disaster movies are a dime a dozen now a days. We have seen an influx of Alien takeovers recently and it is getting a bit stale I must admit. Don't get me wrong, I love films about ET's taking over, but Hollywood has beaten that horse to death. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a welcome change to this trend pitting us measly humans against our closest ancestors, Great Apes. Directed by Rupert Wyatt ("The Escapist") and supported by the unbelievable WETA Digital ("King Kong", "Lord of the Rings", "Avatar") for special effects. "Apes" is a wonder of motion capture, an intelligent heart felt script with great direction. Unfortunately, the human actors left a lot to be desired. But this film isn't about the humans, it's all about the Simians.

As plots go, this is pretty basic. James Franco plays Will Rodman, a brilliant scientist with a breakthrough drug that just may cure Alzheimer's. Rodman and his team are using chimpanzee's to test this new drug and in the process find out that it increases intelligence as well as repair cells in the brain. One of the test subjects gets loose in an intense sequence and ultimately put down. It turns out that she had just given birth to a beautiful baby chimp who inherited this new "altered" gene. Rodman decides the only moral thing to do is to take the baby home while a co-worker tries to find a sanctuary but once Rodman finds out that this little ball of fur has the intelligence of a human child twice it's age he decides to keep and raise the chimp as a child. It's only a matter of time that our chimp Caesar figures out he is not like the other children in the neighborhood. Rodman is forced to give up Caesar to an "Ape Sanctuary" and there begins some of the most exhilarating revolutionary action I've ever seen.

Technically, this film is massive. The work WETA Digital did with motion capture (mo-cap) is truly a wonder to behold. Visual Effects Supervisor with WETA Digital Joe Letteri stated that they built on the technology used in "Avatar" to produce the most realistic and accurate portrayal of the actors suited to play the Simians. Andy Serkis (Gollum from "Lord of the Rings" and Kong from "King Kong") plays chimp Caesar. Serkis manages to fool all of us into believing he is a real animal with super intelligence. His facial emotions and mannerisms should most certainly nominate him for an Oscar. There is a real connection that the audience feels with Caesar and it is all thanks to Serkis' work. Without such an experienced mo-cap actor, this film would not have been such a success.

Not only is the technology used to create the revolution amazing, the action is top notch as well. Many times I found myself with my jaw on the floor from the intense sequences put to screen. Everything from a simple terrifying look from an angry ape to the full out battle on the Golden Gate Bridge was pulled off without a hitch. Many points to the pacing of the films action as it could have been the crutch that killed this beast of a film. One of the most amazing scenes in my opinion is when a group of apes are fleeing over top a suburban neighborhood through the trees. While this is going on we see some people on the street while leaves upon leaves are falling to the ground. This level of detail is apparent in every shot, brilliant work by the production team.

My only problems with this film is the acting from Franco and Freida Pinto, who plays the love interest. They both seemed to "phone it in" as it were. They were not overly impressive and just seemed stale. Maybe the director wanted them to tone it down so that Serkis would have more of an impact acting as a voiceless chimp. Either way, as I said in the beginning, this film wasn't about the humans. It's about compassion, freedom and understanding and on those levels the film is a grand success.

To sum it up, a very powerful film falling just short of being a masterpiece. However, the only flaw in the film is that the film could have been just a bit longer! I am really hoping for a director's cut because there should have been a few more character development scenes between father and son, boyfriend and girlfriend, and even Ape and Human. I felt the movie was paced a bit too quickly but nevertheless, still contains very fleshed out characters driven by excellent performances throughout, from Lithgow, to Franco, to Cox and especially by Andy Serkis.

Cesar is by far the best animated character in the history of cinema. His facial expressions tell it all! You feel his rage, his fear, and his child like innocence through his wonderfully animated eyes. Not only is the C.G.I. good, but the character is written very well in general. You will go through all of those emotions yourself as you witness his journey. All I can say is that I now know why I try to walk my dog without a leash as much as possible. This movie just confirmed it for me! Through the film, you will understand what Cesar is feeling and why. The invisible character of the film is humanity itself, and at times, feels like a study of human nature.

Plot wise, it is very well told. I thought there was nothing cheesy about the script, although not as intelligent as the original, but not dumb either. There is some science fiction in the film, and other than the experimental drug, there was some other surprising Science fiction plot elements in it too which might lead into the sequel; if there is one of course, and I think there will be.

For the skeptics who think the film would be cheesy seeing all the apes battle armed policemen then think again. I too, was a bit skeptical at first, wondering how the apes would defeat an entire police force, but when you watch the film your doubts would dissipate. Just remember the physical ability of apes and how powerful the apes are, and how much more powerful they would be if they had brains! The action was very good, but as good as it was, I'd trade it in for more plot development. There were a bit too many plot jumps in the last 30 minutes, but all in all, it was directed very, very well. Coupled with a good score, mellow at times, but highly dramatic which heightens the tension. Speaking of tension, there is a lot of it in this film. If you're an animal lover like I am, then be warned; You will be in tears 30 seconds into the opening scene.

I also wanted to mention the original film even though it's tough to compare the two. This is an origins story that actually makes the original better. The original was more about the plot than the characters and they each stand apart and alone with their own merits and flaws. It was nice to see a few homages to the old classic, and don't be surprised if you see a character from the original as well. I highly doubt this film will disappoint the fans of the original and TV series! It will have you climbing trees!

There was a lot of hype going into this film. I was very excited to finally see another Planet of the Apes film. I am a big fan of the original and had fun with the sequels and even after Tim Burton's remake I was still excited for this film and I got to say this is the best Planet of the Apes picture since the original.

This story is an origin story about how the Apes began to rise to power and about a man who is bent on curing Alzheimer's and raising an ape who has been past on the genes of the cure from his mother and what the effects this has on this one ape named Caesar.

The very surprising thing about this film is how story based and character based it really is. From the trailers it looked like just another cure gone wrong and a lot of violence happens but I was truly surprised by this film's story and how well told it was. I do think it needed to be just a tad longer in the beginning showing a little more of Caesar's childhood but it's a small fault and can be overlooked. But it is something truly wonderful to see how truly well fleshed out these characters are in this film especially for a "summer blockbuster." All character motivations are known throughout the film. James Franco's character named Will Rodman really wants to make this cure so he can cure his father. So a lot of us can really connect with him and in seeing he is making this cure for the best intentions. And his boss is the classic wants the cure for money type of character. But the best most drawn out character is the character of Caesar. The chimpanzee that becomes increased in intelligence is the true star of the film. He cannot talk and he is a computer made image and yet you really understand him, love him, and feel for him. Caesar is played by motion capture actor Andy Serkis (his second film as an ape, the other one being King Kong (2005)) brings so much to the table. He breathes so much personality into this ape and it's just truly something to wow at and the writers are very wise to really shift the story over from Will to Caesar as Caesar gets sent into an Ape refuge. While there he gets smarter and learns of the true nature of how apes are treated inside there and decides to take action.

I think it was very smart on the filmmakers to shift the apes from makeup to cgi. I wasn't thrilled when I first heard they would make the apes in the computer but after viewing the film I've realized this was the only way to go really. It would look incredibly cheesy if they tried to do what they did in this film with makeup. The motion capture is some of the best to date and the apes look very real. None of the makeups did as good as job as the motion capture did at creating real ape behavior and also by not making them talk I think was a smart move. I don't think making them be able to speak would make it very realistic which seems to be more of the way the film tries to go with rather than a fantasy.

The action is all mostly at the end of the film which is mostly seen in the trailers. While granted there is a little bit here and a little bit there it's all really at the end. It all is very entertaining and the apes do fight like real apes. There are moments where the filmmakers truly capture an ape aggression and what they are truly capable of. Not a lot of people know just how strong and fierce they can be and the film does a good job of showing that.

But something I don't think is mention a lot is that there a nice magical quality to it. The scene in the redwoods is a very magical scene and I really liked it and never liked how it isn't mentioned.

The acting is all very good and is a driving point of the film. James Franco is great, so are John Lithgow and Brian Cox. Also Tom Felton and David Oyelowo are good. Freida Pinto is good and all but I wish her character was given a better purpose and is one of the few faults with this film.

The Music I thought was very good too. It had a very magical yet dark and exciting feel. Composer Patrick Doyle really gives out his best score in years. It will by no means become be considered a masterpiece it just is an above the average movie score and is a score that I would buy when the soundtrack was released on CD.

The Directing by Rupert Wyatt is very good too. He handles the story written with such care. His choices in camera movements and how to properly handle the story is makes him a great choice. Also he uses cgi to better the project and only really uses it when he needs too which is something I always respected in a director these days.

The writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa have crafted a great story and pay so much tribute to the original films. There are so many nice nods to the original which Planet of the Apes fans will enjoy. They also really know how write convincing dialogue and leaves the door open for a sequel but it could be just an make you think type of ending.

The Bottom line is this is a very good story driven film that includes great special effects and matches the original and is the second best film of 2011

Final Score 9/10

Summer 2011 will go down in history as one of the more disappointing seasons in many years when it comes to movies. This is the time of year that people rush out in masses to see the latest action extravaganza, and to be fair, some films have delivered on that promise -- "Harry Potter," "Captain America" (though I have yet to see either of them and am simply relying on general reactions) -- but there's been a whole lot of disappointments, too, and the worst part is that people still seem to be flocking to them, almost out of necessity than wont ("Transformers 3" and "Pirates 4" both made over $1 bil worldwide, which is amazing, because they both sucked).

I think the last film anyone expected to reverse the trend this summer was a prequel to a franchise that has been consistently poor over the years since its original incarnation in 1968. Indeed, the first trailer for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" focused on ape carnage and mayhem, and although a subsequent one highlighted the dramatic underpinning of the film, it seemed like Fox was just trying to turn around its marketing and fool people into thinking there was more than meets the eye.

Alas, the second trailer turned out to be a far more accurate reflection of the movie than anyone would have expected. "Rise of the Apes" is most likely the best film of the blockbuster season, full of heart, carefully crafted and professionally delivered on every level.

Sure, the story has its fair share of clichés -- the "evil caretakers" played by Brian Cox and Tom Felton seem bad just because the film requires them to be, and Felton's performance in particular is so over-the-top that it's almost a caricature -- but because of how the film is packaged, and because it spends so much time focusing on the character of Caesar (played magnificently by Andy Serkis), you are willing to overlook many of the flaws. You care about the characters and the story, even when you kinda know where it's headed and feel like it's a variation of a prison break-out movie with apes in place of humans.

The human cast, as has been noted by many critics, is nothing to write home about. James Franco doesn't exactly phone in his performance but it's not the sort of role that is going to be lining him up for any awards. Toby Maguire was originally lined up for the project before he was dropped (he reportedly came to Fox with script notes, and they promptly cut off discussions with him), but Franco does seem a more natural fit, and does well enough in a role destined to be sidelined by the apes.

And the apes are awesome. No, we haven't quite mastered fully realistic CGI yet -- especially when it's mixed with live actors. (WETA claims that the technology here is superior to "Avatar," but it's not as convincing, perhaps because the CGI so rarely interacted with human actors in "Avatar," and thus we were able to accept the fantasy world more willingly.) However, this is some of the best seen to date. Serkis (who previously played King Kong in Peter Jackson's remake) translates a brilliant performance, for which the film owes a great deal; Caesar is really the crux of the whole thing, and a poor or less realistic performance would have undermined the whole thing. It's the subtle stuff here that makes a difference -- the emotions captured in Caesar's facial expressions, or the glint of sympathy in his eyes when John Lithgow's character begins to suffer from Alzheimer's. There's a moment of genius in that particular scene where Caesar exchanges a sad, knowing glance with Franco's character, and it's eerily touching.

Director Rupert Wyatt follows blockbuster blueprints from beginning to end, but by enriching the first three-quarters of his film with character development and an actual *story* (something so many blockbusters these days seem to be sorely lacking), when the big action sequence arrives at the end, you're invested in what's happening -- and you actually care.

I confess to never having watched many of the "Apes" films. I do recall seeing the Tim Burton remake in theaters a decade ago, and even as a 12-year-old kid, I thought, Wow, this sucks. "Rise" is infinitely better, more creative and more emotionally stirring -- as aforementioned, it's nothing completely unique or novel from a storytelling standpoint, but it's well-crafted in an old-fashioned, refreshingly familiar way, and the addition of groundbreaking CGI makes it a "must-see" rather than something to catch on television. Fox isn't known for pleasing fans with their remakes and sequels (whether it be Die Hard or Wolverine), but Summer 2011 sees two of their biggest properties successfully reinvigorated: first "X-Men First Class," and now this. For my money, "Apes" is better -- perhaps the best blockbuster of the season -- which I never in a million years expected to say.

Without spoiling anything, the film sets itself up for a sequel. Considering it's on track to smash expectations and take in $55 mil this weekend alone, it's pretty much a sure-thing that it will happen. Hopefully the follow-up takes heed of this film's strengths and doesn't abandon the character development in favor of boisterous action sequences. The fact that audiences are reacting strongly to this movie is an indication of what's been lacking all summer: stories with characters we care about. Go see this if you want to end a disappointing summer on a positive note.

When Rise of the Planet of the Apes was announced, expectations were not high. As a prequel to an awful remake of a movie that wasn't exactly an all time classic, its pedigree was sketchy to say the least. Thus came as a shock to nearly everyone when it became one of the biggest summer hits of the. Rise wasn't just watchable, or even pretty good; it's one of the best "B" movies of recent, entertaining and surprisingly human.

The series of events that will one day cause a time displaced astronaut to gaze despairingly upon the ruins of the Statue of Liberty begins not surprisingly with science. Medicine to be exact. Young researcher Will Rodman, played by James Franco is on the cusp of developing a drug that can cure Alzheimer's, his father's included. It just so happens that this drug not only repairs damage to the brain, but makes the subject smarter, as shown in trials with chimpanzees. Due to unexpected complications these trials don't exactly work out in the end, and the test subjects are put down. But one of them had a child, Caesar Raised like a son by Rodman, Caesar shows remarkable intelligence beyond even his mother, learning hundreds of words in sign language, understanding human speech, even scoring higher on intelligence tests than human children of the same age. There seems no limit to how much he can learn, or to what the drug that gave him his intelligence can do for humans. But this isn't an inspiring story of medical breakthroughs. A tragic misunderstanding and Caesar's own animal nature result in him being separated from his family, a prisoner among his own kind. He is not happy with his new situation, and he has a plan to change it.

The plot is hardly more complicated than I've described it, and is somewhat over reliant on coincidence and bad human decisions. Thankfully Rise is not driven by its plot, but by its central character. Caesar is quite simply a miracle of special effects. In only a decade CGI and motion capture technology has advanced to a degree that makes Lord of the Ring's Gollum seem almost listless by comparison. Caesar looks so real he could pass for a live chimpanzee if he didn't do things that no real chimp could ever be trained to do. Although he only speaks a few words late in the film, his facial expressions and gestures say more than enough.

Early on you can tell that Caesar is not only a thinking being, but a feeling one as well. Like a human he feels love, anger, desire, and fear. He understands the concept of family, and based on one overly sappy scene he seems to have a fair understanding of human mating rituals. When he finds himself caged in a primate sanctuary, he understands just enough of the situation to feel betrayed. And we can't help but feel sympathy for him. As he establishes his leadership over the other primates and plans his uprising, part of us roots for him, even though we know what it will eventually mean for humankind.

The first half is admittedly slow for an action movie, but when the action starts it really gets going. The sight of Caesar and his followers rampaging through downtown San Francisco makes for a wonderfully entertaining spectacle, which only gets better as the humans start fighting back. Much of what takes place is naturally ludicrous if you stop to think about it. Even with human level intelligence there's no way a hundred apes could overcome a major city police department, but their battle is so fast paced and cleverly staged that we're willing to suspend disbelief. If the ewoks could defeat the Empire then why can't Caesar's cohort make monkeys of the cops? Rise of the Planet of the Apes is by no means perfect. As mentioned the plot is standard B movie fare, and calamity could have been avoided if a few people hadn't taken unnecessary risks or just not been complete jerks. The human characters also aren't as well developed as their simian co-stars. Franco's boss in particular comes off as one dimensional and the film's attempt to make him something of an antagonist never really works.

That said, Rise is well paced and more emotionally engaging than any Planet of the Apes movie has a right to be. Coming on the heels of Avatar it also further showcases what the latest in FX tech can contribute to storytelling when used properly. And it delivers all the excitement a summer blockbuster should. Even if you were never a fan of the originals, this one is worth checking out on DVD or streaming.

If you're like me, you will be completely fascinated by the story of this film. I'm a big fan of Planet of the Apes and to get to see its origins is really great. Out of the entire series of movies, I think this one truly is the best. It was just absolutely spectacular! The actors delivered fine performances for their well developed characters; the writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, didn't miss a beat with their fantastic and intelligent script; and the story was compelling, exciting and emotionally touching.

The star of the film is an ape named Caesar (whose emotions were brought to life brilliantly by Andy Serkis) who is the baby of an ape that was tested on for scientist Will Rodman's (James Franco) research in an effort that resulted in a way for the brain to heal itself, and what could possibly be the cure for Alzheimer's; a disease very personal for him because his father (John Lithgow) suffers from it -- even though Rodman is warned not to let personal issues get in the way of science. The drug also had another affect... it lead to the development of intelligence in apes. As Caesar grows older and smarter, though, he becomes more aware, questioning who and what he is. It is during an incident that causes Caesar to be separated from Will, in a feeling of abandonment, and then being mistreated by Dodge Landon (Tom Felton) at a shelter that ultimately leads to a hurt and confused Caesar plotting for revenge.. what becomes a war for primacy.

Unlike the Planet of the Apes films from the past, this one did not have people running around in ape suits but instead presented us with CGI primates, emotional performances captured from actors. If I hadn't known it were CGI, though, I would have sworn that they were real apes. They were brilliant! Director Rupert Wyatt did a wonderful job of connecting this prequel to the first film, really catching every little detail and even littered respectful homages to the original throughout the entire film. Honestly, I just loved finding out what lead to the great ape takeover. And as I mentioned before, the script was just wonderful and made for a thought provoking and emotionally driven thrill ride!

Dramatic as well as spectacular film in which simians undergo a rebellion against humans and winding up at a climatic final . 7th movie in the series based on Pierre Boulle novel initiated by ¨Planet of Apes¨ that at time of its release regarded as the most extraordinary Scifi in years. It deals with Caesar (Andy Serkis , this is the second film in which Andy Serkis plays an ape, having previously portrayed 2005's version of King Kong and he was also the motion capture actor for Gollum in Lord of the Rings), a Chimpanzee raised like a child by the drug's creator, Will Rodman (James Franco ,Tobey Maguire was considered for the role) and a Primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) . Will is desperately looking for a cure for Alzheimer's disease that suffers his father (John Lightow). Rodman gives a substance Caesar, designed to help the brain repair itself , as Evolution Becomes Revolution . The chimpanzee gains human-like intelligence and emotions from an experimental drug that gives rise to a super-intelligent chimp who leads an ape uprising . Later on , Caesar is locked at a zoo and seeking justice for his fellow primates , as they carry out a riot in which simians turn the tables . Meantime , lots of simians , Chimpanzees , gorillas murder violently every human in sight . At the ending happens a spectacular , fierce confrontation between a human army and the simians commanded by Caesar . Caesar leads an animal revolt against his human captors and mankind in which humans battle the apes led by the intelligent ape.

This awesome film contains thrills , noisy action , violence , breathtaking scenes and a sour denounce about animal mistreat and against scientific corporations . This is an entertaining , big budget sci-fi flick plenty of metaphysical significance with thoughtful reflexion about origin of human being , racism , genetic experiments , apartheid , though also packs action, intrigue and amusement . Although several elements of the screenplay strain credibility to the limit the story turns out to be pretty interesting and amusing . This film is considered to be the first live action film to have its main hero as a thoughtful, feeling, self aware animal. Andy Serkis's distinctive features prove to be recognisable even under ¨Motion Capture¨ FX images . One of the first feature films to use motion-capture in a so-called 'on location' setting , formerly , motion-capture was limited to special studio set up with special ¨motion-capture¨ cameras in very clearly defined surroundings . Unlike the previous films, this is the first Apes movie to have CGI apes and with arm extensions . The performers are very fine , particularly Andy Serkis who provides the sturdy central pivot the tale surely needs , James Franco and Freida Pinto are pretty good , the characters are well drawn . Remaining cast formed by Gorilla , Chimpanzees , Orangutans and other apes are nice , in spite of Motion Capture they are still oddly convincing . The picture delivers enough energy and results to be an impressive flick full of action , battles and suspense . Writing credits by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver , their screenplay is just clever and including interesting issues about human being and animals . The screenwriters based the idea for this script from genetic engineering, to numerous reports of chimpanzees attacking their owners, and to the fact that people in the United States are raising various species of non-human primates. One of the important attributes of this work, is the magnificent and luminous cinematography by Andrew Lesnie . Epic as well as emotive musical score by Patrick Doyle , it's full of fury and sound . Motion picture was well directed by Rupert Wyatt (Kathryn Bigelow, Robert Rodriguez, Tomas Alfredson and James McTeigue all were considered by the studio, or passed on the project before this director signed on).

Other adaptations based on the characters created by Pierre Boulle are the followings : The original and the best is ¨Planet of Apes¨ by Franklyn J Schaffner with Charlton Heston , Roddy MacDowall, Kim Hunter , "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970) with James Franciscus , Linda Harrison , Maurice Evans ; it's followed by three inferior sequels that get worse and a TV series as 'Escape of planet of apes'(71, Don Taylor), 'Conquest of planet of apes'(72, J. Lee Thompson), 'Battle for the planet of apes' (73, J.Lee Thompson) and finally Tim Burton version (2000) with Mark Whalberg , Tim Roth , Helena Bonham Carter and special appearance by Charlton Heston .

I had extremely low expectations for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). I loved the original 1968 classic, but every sequel/remake after it sucked. I was surprised they were going to make a prequel of the classic and I thought it was a good idea. But still after so many bad sequels and remakes, I still had my big doubts. Also I didn't like how the monkeys were made by CGI/Special Effects, why not use a robotic monkey or a real one, it would look more real.

After my viewing of the film, I was pleasantly surprised and I liked it overall. But there were definitely flaws in the movie, no doubt about it. The characters were a bit uninteresting at times, there were subplots that went pretty much nowhere and indicated that there could sequels in the works, but it all depends on how much money it makes. The movie, at some points turned to an average summer blockbuster with all the action scenes and explosions, but it redeems itself later on.

However there are plenty of positive qualities, the movie has. Andy Serkis delivers a great performance as the lead ape in the film and is pretty much the star of the film. James Franco and Freida Pinto, both did a good job portraying their characters. The movie also poses ethical/moral questions, which I found very interesting. The movie is easily on of the most thrilling films we've had this summer. Finally a movie that pays respect to the 1968 original science fiction classic!

This is a much smarter way to reboot a moribund series, taking the aesthetics into a new century while also updating the narrative to match with new technology. It also trusts the audience to empathize with a non-human character using that new technology, and then it includes the anchor of the human story which is simply not as strong.

Instead of trying to recreate any of the previous movies up to this point, Rupert Wyatt pushed the newest entry in the franchise in the Batman Begins direction of giving a grounded, modern take on a fantastical subject. Some chimpanzees are kidnapped from a jungle in Africa and sold to a company doing research into an Alzheimer's cure. A female goes on a rampage after she's infused, but it wasn't due to the cure but because she was protecting her baby she had delivered in secret in the lab. The chief scientist, Will, takes the baby home, discovers it has increased mental powers, and keeps the baby he and his sick father name Caesar.

This opening is largely dominated by the human side of the story, and it suffers a bit for it. Will is played by James Franco who's more of a performance artist than an actor and doesn't really deliver much terribly convincingly. The antagonist is a money-grubbing corporate type with a British accent, Jacobs, and he's flat and uninteresting. The scientific stuff is not terribly convincing, feeling like Hollywood dealing in stuff it doesn't really understand. What saves this part is really John Lithgow as Will's father, Charles. He's a quality actor playing the disheveled and confused old man really well and with a depth of humanity that is missing from the rest of the performers.

However, it's at about this point that Caesar begins to take center stage. Caesar the character and performance by Andy Serkis is the single greatest part of this movie, and he's great, one of the single greatest things about the franchise up to this point. Caesar grows from an innocent baby monkey into a cynical and hardened leader who uses what tools he has to stand apart from humanity and push ape-kind into a new direction. The digital performance, captured from Serkis' own motion captured performance, is subtle and touching.

Caesar ends up defending Charles from their butthead neighbor (another flaw in the movie since he's so thinly drawn and cartoonish, but the part is small, so there wasn't a whole lot else to do) and gets ordered by the court to remain in an ape sanctuary just outside the city of San Francisco. It's there that Caesar first encounters other apes, sees their limitations in contrast to his own heightened intelligence, and how, despite how nice Will and his girlfriend Caroline were to him, Caesar is still a step lower than humans in this world. It's a situation he can't stomach after a while exposed to the unvarnished truth. This is where he hardens, searching for a new truth, and it's all done wordlessly, anchored entirely by facial performances. It's great.

Caesar's solution is to expose the rest of the apes along with him in captivity to the compound that Will had been working on, breaking out and stealing it from Will's own refrigerator since he had been doing so much work on it, giving it to his father, outside of work (thin, but okay). With his newfound alpha status and a few dozen suddenly intelligent apes (the scene where they wake up and understand what's going on around them significantly more is a great quiet moment), Caesar decides that they won't live in captivity. Instead, they will escape to the Redwood forests on the other side of the San Francisco Bay.

It's pretty much at this point that the human side of the story finally and completely becomes mere support to the main story of Caesar's journey, and the movie improves greatly. Caesar works to get his people free, the movie embraces some action conventions with the apes freeing the apes at a zoo and the remaining apes at the genetics lab before grabbing spears and fighting off the police and Jacobs over the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a satisfying use of action elements because of the clear emotional anchor that is Caesar.

Now, a moment about callbacks. In my review of Tim Burton's re-imagining of Planet of the Apes, I complained about the callbacks, saying that they were poorly placed and ill-used, arguing that they could never rise out of guffaw territory. Well, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has several callbacks, perhaps more than Burton's movie, but they work significantly better. Let's take one for example. Tom Felton's character, Dodge, is facing down Caesar at the beginning of his revolt, and Caesar grabs Dodge. "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape," Dodge cries out, giving the audience that moment of recognition to something it knows, but then the movie immediately undercuts that with a big emotional moment, Caesar saying his first word, "No." The sudden "No!" undercuts the guffaw moment and brings the audience immediately back to the emotional reality of what's going on, focusing us on what Caesar is doing. So, the movie gets its callback to a famous line from the original film, fits it into the situation rather organically, but then moves on very quickly to keep the focus where it needs to be, Caesar. It's a very good way to make callbacks work in dramatic situations, essentially making sure that they aren't the focus.

Anyway, if the focus were more on Caesar, the film would be great, but because we spend so much time with the uninteresting and rather bland humans through the first half, it's not as good as it could be. It's not that the human stuff is bad, it's just that it's not terribly interesting especially in comparison to what Caesar goes through. Still, it's a solid way to reboot a moribund franchise in a new time.

...but it didn't do it for me. I'm a huge fan of the series (excluding the Tim Burton disaster, of course) but this didn't have nearly the depth nor the intelligence I was expecting. Like most I was initially skeptical at the idea of attempting to reboot the franchise -- but as positive reviews kept flowing in regarding this "smart" script and Avatar-like CGI, I began to get excited again. With the surprisingly high box office numbers and positive feedback from most who saw it, I got more excited.

I finally ponied up last night to check it out.

The good news: The CGI apes stuff works pretty well. Serkis does his usual great job (although I thought his King Kong was better). Action sequences and set pieces are all good.

The bad news: There's no Rod Serling-style, Twilight Zone-ish, philosophical themes or moral messages here. It isn't "smart" compared to the original films. This one is more like POTA for Dummies. It relies on a trite storyline that's been beaten to death (Don't play God; Don't mess with Nature -- yada, yada, yada) with nothing more interesting or thought-provoking. The original series was not afraid to hit you in the gut and make you think. Those movies were much heavier in every way; while this plays much more like a straight action film. Entertaining from that aspect -- along with Caesar himself, but not much else. So, I don't know where all this "smart" talk came from. If this passes for smart then our standards have dropped.

Next is the acting. I don't blame the actors b/c it didn't seem that they had much to work with. Franco, Pinto, Felton, Cox and the rest are all one-note characters with little depth. All the humans are cardboard clichés in this film. I know Caesar is the protagonist -- but to have the other actors be so uninteresting is a real drawback. And this -- along with the trite story -- reminds me a bit of Avatar. A by-the-numbers retelling of Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves -- where all the characters are one-dimensional. Visually stunning, yes -- but with shallow characterizations. In Avatar, military guy = bad, corporate exec = bad; in ROTPOTA, drug company exec = bad, neighbor = bad, chimp worker = bad. There's not much else to say about them since we're not presented with their context.

No one wanted to like this more than me. I was hoping the flavor of the original series had been brought back -- but I'm afraid if we can't resurrect Rod Serling or enlist a writer of his caliber, we'll never see it again.

Hollywood is losing ideas. We already know that. Now we are stuck having remakes, reboots, & prequels. And what's worse, most of these prequels are hardly connected to the original film & sometimes they say it's a reboot. The film? It can be entertaining in some parts, but mostly it's a wooden & clichéd sci-fi story. Convoluted from the original Planet of the Apes series but like they say, This could be a reboot. Any new ideas, Hollywood?

The movie is totally disconnected from the original Planet of the Apes movies. It's obvious that they wanted to make another reboot of the series. They're losing ideas & wanted to improve some of the old classics. Rise of the Planet of the Apes doesn't want to show the true origin of the first series. I don't think Fox is still capable of making accurate prequels. It's just like X-Men First Class although X-Men is an enjoyable movie and it's necessary to tell its story.

The story here can be interesting but it ends up being generic & predictable. Science goes wrong, Humans are evil, Too much sappiness, & ends with a predictable and somewhat exhausting action climax. Since none of the apes are real, The CGI looks impressive though. The main ape's actor, Andy Serkis, only spoken few lines in this movie but the motion he provides to the character is remarkably amazing. He's an expert to these motion capture characters. James Franco ends up being a wooden character. What's the point of Freida Pinto's character? Tom Felton is playing Draco Malfoy again & this time he's teasing Apes. At least John Lithgow gave some emotional moments.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an altered, predictable, & unnecessary prequel. The filmmaking has already been evolved but still no revolution. The studio is out of ideas & we are getting these unnecessary prequels that suddenly appearing as a reboot. Even the film itself is not good. I noticed that most people liked it maybe because the CGI is quite amazing and the motion capture performance of Andy Serkis nails most of the film. But really, this is unnecessary & ridiculous. The ending also has an ambition for a sequel. I guess these prequels are deceiving reboots.

To begin on a tangent before evaluating the film, before summer 2011, I had not seen a decent prequel film. Prequels to films are often made when there is either a rich back story behind the originals or the producers are wanting a little more money from a particular franchise (see the Star Wars prequels). The problem they present is that film- makers have to construct their work, with the knowledge that the audience knows how it ends. One of the greatest things about seeing a film for the first time is the surprise and anticipation, to removing that can detract a lot from the overall impact of the film. But this summer I have had the pleasure of seeing X-men First Class, and now Rise of the Planet of the Apes - two excellent prequels to series that I didn't care for previously.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (RPA from now on, I can't bear typing it) is not only a triumph in CG animation, but as a stellar science fiction film, that remembers that films are infinitely more engaging when the audience actually cares for the characters on screen. Too often do I see films with a high premise that forget to flesh out their characters, leaving us to run around in mindless, weightless explosions with nobodies who we know less than 3 things about (cough, Transformers 3). Yes, RPA is about super intelligent apes that ransack cities and take on armed forces with little more than what surrounds them, but before we get to that there is an enormous amount of development from the main protagonist; Caesar. Although the advertisement trumpets James Franco, John Lithgow etc, the real star here is Andy Serkis, along with millions of dollars worth of CG animation to create the most expressive animated creatures on film. Even with Avatar, using real humans, pales in comparison to the amount of detail going into every single one of these apes; there is not one second in the film where you cannot understand one of the primates intentions - you could practically vocalise them yourself with the refined eye movement, body language that clearly separates Caesar from his more primitive relatives. Needless to say, Caesar's performance is flawless; after all this is the man who brought Gollum to life, but he captures the screen with an entirely wordless performance, which to me is the greatest part of the film. I felt for Caesar more than any other character in this film, and he did it without saying a word. Eat that Michael Bay. I was almost in tears at one point during one of Caesar's more emotional scenes for Christ Sake - although a chimp, the heightened intelligence really gives him just enough human characteristic to be above the uncanny valley while still behaving like an animal.

The humans in the film were what I considered weakest in this film; not any of the performances were bad, but a little more development in some minor characters and some tweak in the writing here and there would have made this a perfect 10. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) felt a bit off to me; he was cruel but almost in a cartoon way, though I suspect that's more to do with ill writing than any personal issues. The main cast are good, though at it's current length, I think more development with James Franco's character wouldn't have gone amiss, but then again, this might have thrown off the pacing.

Another thing I love about this film is that while taking a sharp diversion from its roots in terms of gradual characterisation, it does a superb job of delivering what everyone inevitably came for. A massive Chimpocalypse. A simian uprising that sees the downtrodden apes taking up arms against humanity, and in three words: it's f - ing cool. Made all the more exciting by the anticipation and the feel for these characters, the marvellous point about Caesar's character is that we sympathise with him, we understand why he leads an ape army AND WE SUPPORT HIM. A super intelligent ape is rallying a chimp attack force to free themselves from their confines, cause mayhem, disrupt order and ultimately rule humanity AND WE WANT THEM TO. And for that I applaud.

I love a film that makes us look inwards at ourselves and question our own moral codes and attitudes to events in life (this one clearly representing a case of animal cruelty) that make us conclude that WE are indeed the bad guys, and we need to change. Living in a small, rural middle-class society (like myself) or a well-developed area often makes mainstream audiences forget about those less fortunate than themselves, and what it drives them to, or in this case, what having too much drives us to, and it's refreshing to see something that reminds us of how much of a plague we are to the rest of the planet.

Overall, I would say a strong 9/10, perhaps not quite reaching the highs that First Class did, but by God, was it more consistent - definitely watch this one, and stay after the credits.

Of all the movies that can possibly be re-booted......why reboot another movie that's already been re-booted? And of all the projects that the Weta team can possibly tackle, why this one? Well it must be the script, because everyone that's come across it has wanted to be somewhat involved. Hopefully it lives up to the expectations that are already in place, because i don't think i could handle another stink bomb like Burton's version.

Finally......a summer movie that's actually WORTH your summer dollar. Almost every element of this film is pitch perfect. Just what makes this 'oh so' great? Allow me to explain....

Judging from the preview, i thought the movie to be a little too relative to the concept from "Deep Blue Sea". But this movie takes a much more different route with their Alzheimer's approach. Needless to say, they did a much better job than that movie.....obviously.

I know most people may be scratching their heads to this comment, but in my opinion, this is easily the most well written script of the year thus far. It's intelligent, thought provoking, emotional, and damn well entertaining. What makes this so good is the progression of the main ape 'Ceaser' (heh, ironic name), and his journey from a curious and smart ape, into an upset ape that realizes the harsh realities of being treated like an animal. It's now easy to see just why everyone jumped on board when they read this. I kid you not, i actually got goosebumps from this movie, and that rarely happens.

And once again, the Weta team did a phenomenal job with their brilliant special effects. Andy Serkis who has already done work like this before in 'Lord of Rings' and 'King Kong', out preformed most actors in Hollywood without barely saying a word. Is it wrong to say that a man in a blue suit with dots all over him, imitating an ape is so far the best actor i've seen this year? Uh.....not at all. Trust me, see the movie, and you'll understand why.

Bottom Line.......not only is this easily the best movie of the summer, i will go as far as saying it's the best movie i have seen so far this year. Yes, it is THAT good. Like i said earlier, almost every element of this movie is pitch perfect. The writing, the acting, the special effects.....all done to near perfection. It some people's eyes, this is called a reboot. However, it feels more like a prequel. But judging from what i just saw, i hope to god that they make more of these, because it literally just blew my mind.

Back in 2001, everything was in place to re-launch a much-loved, yet dated franchise, that was first kicked off way back in 1968 with Planet of the Apes. The mythology was already laid out, and was ripe to be adjusted, experimented with, and ultimately improved upon. The re-make had an interesting (if overrated) director in Tim Burton, who had made a bona fide classic with Edward Scissorhands and the fantastic and lovingly-rendered Ed Wood. In came up-and-coming A-lister Mark Wahlberg who had impressed in Boogie Nights and Three Kings, and great support in Tim Roth and Helena Bonham Carter. Then the film came out. And it was s**t. And worst of all it didn't make sense. It took ten years to recover, and thankfully another attempt has been made to kick this franchise up the arse. Only this time it seems like they've put some thought into it.

Dr. Rodman (James Franco) is on the verge of discovering the cure for Alzheimer's disease. He tests his drugs on apes, and when one the apes shows remarkable advances in intelligence, he believes he has it. But when pitching his product to investors, the ape escapes and goes on a rampage, only to be shot dead. It turns out she was only protecting her newly-born child, who Rodman takes home to care for. His Alzheimers- suffering father Charles (John Lithgow) is taken by the chimp and they name it Caesar. But as Caesar grows physically, he does so mentally too. He starts to notice that he is more a pet than family to Rodman, and when Caesar attacks a neighbour, he is taken into care by the sadistic John Landon (Brian Cox) and his son Dodge (Tom Felton). While there, Caesar rebels against the cruelty, and educates his fellow chimp-mates.

While Franco may be top billed, the film is stolen by Andy Serkis as Caesar. Of course, the special effects are a marvel and are often flawless. But the character breaks through the effects, and at Caesar's core there is something ultimately human and real. He is the film's heart, if you will, and the film would fall flat on it's face if Caesar was not successfully drawn. Serkis seems to be the go-to guy when a director wants the movements for an entirely CG-character (Gollum, King Kong), and it's clear why. He made Gollum possibly the most memorable character is the last twenty years, and here he shines in the quieter moments, as he broods in his cell, contemplating and absorbing his surroundings. His eyes speak louder than words. It's a triumph of effects and acting.

While there is plenty to enjoy about the film - it is as exciting, action-packed, and as intelligent as you would hope a blockbuster would be - there are some negatives. It's unclear as to why Brian Cox was cast in a relatively thin role that any actor could play, and Freida Pinto, one of the stars of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, is wasted and is nothing more than eye-candy. Tom Felton, clearly cast for his t**t-like qualities, highlighted in his role as Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter, is given a rather cartoon bad guy to play, and the script never really allows the character rise above cliché.

But these are rather minor quibbles in what is a thoroughly enjoyable film, that equals it's CG-fuelled visuals with brains and genuine heart. A great start to what is hopefully an interesting franchise, and more than enough to diminish those terrible memories of Tim Burton's terrible 2001 re-make.

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CGI. It's the single best thing about this movie. All the apes in this movie look and seem real, and there are some fantastic scenes, such as a huge gorilla charging a policeman on a horse on the Golden Gate Bridge! The leader ape, Caesar, is portrayed through motion capture by Andy Serkis. Now, as movie fans know, Andy Serkis always steals the show. As Gollum he overshadowed Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and company, and as King Kong he made a painfully long, overindulgent film seem passable. Unfortunately for us, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is more like the latter.

Rupert Wyatt's directorial debut, The Escapist, was a competent effort, but one thing it was very good at was establishing character. It had a number of great character actors (Brian Cox in the lead, who also features in Rise of the Planet of the Apes), playing multi-dimensional roles. Unfortunately, this is actually the greatest weakness of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. James Franco plays Will Rodman, a scientist working on the cure of Alzheimer's, and the biggest problem about his character is that he does not act, feel or look like a scientist. Tobey Maguire was the original choice for this role before he had to drop out, and I certainly feel he would have been a better choice than his Spider Man co-star. Weaker still is Freida Pinto as Will's girlfriend who serves no purpose at all other than to occasionally warn Franco that he is tampering with things that should not be tampered with or something like that. Brian Cox and Tom Felton feature in one-dimensional roles who are laughable rather than creepy (especially Tom 'Draco Malfoy' Felton, who uses his Draco sneer in this film constantly). Finally there's David Oyelowo as Franco's money-centered boss, whose English accent is used to full effect to show how bad he is. Oyelowo's character is not developed at all, and he is the same over the number of years that the films plot goes over.

I would mention that John Lithgow's performance as Wills' Alzeimer's affected father is fairly convincing, but it does not reprieve the others.

The other major drawback is the slow plot, which lags in several places and does not serve up enough consistent action over the piece to keep entertainment-hungry teenagers happy. The end scenes, where apes begin to take a stand against the consistently nasty humans, are impressive, but by then - after being through so much back story spanning over a large number of years - I did not really care.

Lastly, and oddly, a huge drawback of the film was the marketing. As a huge movie fan, I viewed every trailer for this film, and unfortunately felt that I knew exactly what was coming since the trailer had every interesting scene in it, including in a lesser used trailer, the death of a significant character. It does not help that the film is a prequel, as the audience knows that apes succeed in taking over the world, so we know that they will not be destroyed by humans in the final battle. Because of this knowledge, it lacks tension.

In conclusion, it is certainly a watchable film, but another under-par summer blockbuster which is slow-moving and frankly boring in places. It is partially saved by the amazing CGI and conclusive battle, but this cannot quite this from getting away from a disappointing 6/10.

It's surprising how engaging segments of this film can be, despite its over-reliance on non-verbal display, linear plot developments, and stock personalities; it's precisely the detail lent to non-verbal display, however, that makes the film worth seeing. Primate dominance hierarchies and play behaviour, meticulously rendered emotions—fear and its autonomic signatures (shallow breathing, dilated pupils, etc.--and consciousness-raising depictions of Alzheimer's disease and its impact on loved ones, all go a long way to make the film seem "round" rather than "flat." Surprising touches of nuance pervade the film, actually. Caesar, the intelligent chimp and protagonist, displays his perceptiveness and inward-looking grasp of his circumstances, uses a Chinese fable about strength in numbers and weakness in division to reveal his organizational aspirations, is self-restrained and morally sensitized, etc. Then you have ironically ape-like zookeepers revealing themselves in different ways to be more primate-like than the primates they hold in captivity, etc. One zookeeper, with a simian mien, becomes mesmerized by an evangelical commercial, yet happens also to be more sensible than his stereotypically aggressive colleague.

So the film has its merits and holds attention, but it also has serious weaknesses common to most Hollywood fair, such as an unwillingness to develop characters, inexplicable plot jumps and unrealistic moments defying belief, etc. We should demand more from sci-fi, since the genre is such an excellent vehicle for thought experimentation, and can explore certain social problems in ways non sci-fi can't. So I should think a truly penetrating look at human nature may come from a Planet of the Apes follow-up feature, a film outranking its classic original in psychological depth and structural control. But whether such a production could meet marketing expectations is doubtful by today's standards. Animated chimps and blue humanoids wielding bows and arrows are expected to appeal to the masses, largely for the sake of making money and not telling a rich, philosophically focused story. I can be hopeful, all the same, can't I?

One must, after having watched a film, take stock of its overall 'value' for viewers, despite how a film has made us feel; insofar as lasting value is consideration, Rise of the Planet of the Apes achieves little, because its characters and events lack mimetic relation to experiences in life, as realistically developed over time, as opposed to ample stimuli that we can't help but emote to, since we're viewing primal displays that prompt automatic response. There's little impetus for introspection in this film. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, by contrast--and I use this as an example merely because the title shows up briefly in the film for the namesake of the protagonist chimp--has much more command over the psychological sphere, over what we're experiencing and how we judge others, and what we ought to do about how we feel, within a complex social structure. I was hoping the filmmakers would bring more from Julius Caesar's themes into the film--and the follow-up film may very well evince this, with a chimp revolt of some sort against their leader--but I would expect any relation, at this point, to be only superficial.

A scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer's takes home a baby chimpanzee with high intelligence.

If you are a fan of the Franklin J. Schaffner film there is no reason not to like this reboot prequel, as it takes a plausible approach to getting us to the original's concept.

The star of the show is Caesar the chimp, who is brought to life with 2011 CGI and a great performance from Andy Serkis. His interactions with all other characters are very cinematic and the highlight of the film. He is supported well by James Franco, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Brian Cox, and David Oyelowo.

Generally the plot focuses on character development and origins without doing too much that could have made it long-winded. There are the odd few contrived moments and plot holes that defy logic, but if you have the right suspension of disbelief it does the film no real harm.

Visually it has lots of memorable images that tell the story of Caesar's journey. The best parts involve his growth as a character and the relationship between apes and humans.

If you need lots of action spectacle in your movies, it has plenty of that with its inevitable conflict between human and ape characters. For me this aspect is a mixed bag as it has both crowd pleasing character moments and ridiculously OTT physical feats. The CGI is strong and everything is enhanced by the soundtrack.

A film such as this – essentially another summer blockbuster – must be taken on its own terms and on those terms is is rather impressive. But please ignore all claims along the lines that this film 'examines our relationship with blah-blah' or any other such blarney. Lined up against other blockbusters Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes stands tall, mainly, of course, because of its impressive CGI effects. Judged on other criteria, though, it is pretty much standard hokum. Still, go along and enjoy it, but don't read too much into it. There is precious little characterisation, hardly any 'plot' or story and the characters are, at best, two-dimensional, with the standard bad guys and the standard rather misunderstood good guys. But on its own terms it does the biz and then some. Someone else reviewing it here has described it as a 'masterpiece'. Not quite, and don't fall for it. Great popcorn-munching fodder but not much else.

I didn't want to watch Rise of the Planets of the Apes. First of all because of the title and secondly because it was another Planets of the ape movie. The last try at rebooting this franchise was a disaster even with Tim Burton directing it. As such, I didn't have high hopes with the movie.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt, the movie feels like it was directed with tight lease. Caesar and his actions and reactions to the world are the best part of the movie. I think you are not going to see CGI at its best again until James Cameron comes up with Avatar 2 and 3. The story is tight and makes you sit on your toes even though you know whats going to happen in the end. Acting wise, James Franco leads the charge as a son who won't let go of his father. Frieda Pinto is adequate.

If you are in two minds about going to this movie, take a chance and watch it. The worst that will happen is you will watch another unsatisfying movie this summer. But what if this is one of the best summer movies made this year??? Check this out and let me know.

I was a huge fan of the originals and even liked the first reboot with mark wahlberg so I was expecting this to be good also and I was not disappointed!

The highlight of the movie and what they did real well was show Ceaser and his growth. I enjoyed the ride we took seeing him born and all the way up until the end.

The cgi. Wow. Very very impressive. You could have told me they were real apes and I would have believed it. I guess certain studios have better cgi teams than others? I don't know.

I'm very excited fyi watch the next two movies in the series and also the fourth one that comes out in 2023 or 2024.