After the fiasco reimagining Tim Burton did with his Planet of the Apes movie(even though I liked it), It is understandable that people looked to Rise of the Planet of the Apes with alot of skepticism. Rise(as I'll refer to it from now on) tells the story of how Caesar became aware(able to think for himself, if you will) and then became the leader of the army that will, one day, lead a rebellion against humanity.

When I saw the trailer for the movie months before, I was quite disappointed with it. To be brutally honest, I never thought that Director Rupert Wyatt could pull off a serious reboot of the Planet of the Apes movies without it looking abit like Burton's film but, lo and behold, with Andy Serkis' performance as Caesar- he does more than that. He actually makes the story believable. If Serkis or Wyatt one doesn't get an award during the Oscars, then those people in Hollywood are just plain silly. Being a hardcore Planet of the Apes fans, I came out of the theater more than pleased with the film.

If I had anything to nitpick about with the movie, it would be the deliberate pacing in the movie. It was a little slow for my tastes. However, the payoff at the end more than makes up for all that.

In the end, all I can say is, if you don't check Rise of the Planet of the Apes out, you're missing one heckuva movie.

For a movie whose trailer seemed fake at first glance (a serious drama about a superintelligent ape and his issues?), RotPotA (rot-POT-uh) does an incredible job getting you invested in the plight of a chimp. Low budget for a summer blockbuster, this ninety million dollar film focuses on the rise of Caesar, first of his species and leader of the apes. We watch as he grows up, casts off his human friendships, and eventually leads a revolt in the hopes of achieving freedom for his people, err, his fellow apes.

Whether or not you're going to like this movie boils down to one thing: can you buy into it? Can you lay your hard-earned money on the line and accept Caesar as a fully human character with hopes and fears? Since the actual humans are sort of irrelevant and the apes are incapable of speech, there's not a lot to go on. Basically, if you liked the first 40 minutes of Wall-E, then you'll probably be fine. Caesar may not be a lovable trash robot (or is he?! Twist!), but Andy Serkis does an incredible job conveying his feelings through his motions. Serkis must've spent years living among the apes of the wild to achieve such realistic mimicry (he went to Rwanda and chilled in zoos!), and he strikes epic and expressive poses aplenty, each one conveying Caesar's thoughts without feeling obvious and overblown. By the end of the movie, you'll care more about Caesar than any actual human (in the film--hopefully not in real life). You'll fear for his friends and root for his victory. Honestly, an ape that likable? I'll let him rise above me any day.

Once you're down with the movie's premise, and once you're finally ok with Franco's whole "Let's make a much more aggressive form of this untested virus! What could possibly go wrong?Read more ›

I admit I've seen the first Planet of the Apes and loved it! But I hated the other sequels! But when I saw the previews for this movie my thoughts were, "Jeez another one?" But when my grandparents and I actually went to the movies and saw the movie for ourselves, we loved it. Its a stand alone movie and its NOT a cheesy sequel to the original and its not a remake. It has a lot of action. Of course James Franco who was in the movie was extremly handsome too! LOL! And the special effects were awesome. It also tells how the chimpanzees get smarter. By the end of the movie everyone including me in the audience were clapping. I don't want to give away too much. Whether your a fan of the original Planet of the Apes or even if you haven't seen the original Planet of the Apes you will love this movie.

"At age 3, Caesar has completed puzzles ages 8 and up. He has been displaying cognitive skills that far exceed that of a human counterpart." Will (Franco) has been working on a cure for alzheimers. He tests his experiments on apes, and thinks that he has finally found what he is looking for. When one dies during the test he is left to take care of her baby. When he takes the little ape home he begins to notice things that aren't normal. This is another movie that exploded in the theaters and I waited to see it till just the other day. What I have noticed lately is that the longer you wait to see a movie this popular it never lives up to what you expect. When everyone says how good the movie is and it's the best movie they have seen your expectations are too high and it always disappoints. This is the exception. This is truely a great movie that is an absolute must see. I did not like the Marky-Mark "Planet Of The Apes" but this one is nothing like that one. This one actually has a story that keeps you interested and you are hooked in from the beginning. The most amazing part of this movie is that there are large chunks of the movie where there is no dialog at all and until someone says something you don't really notice. This movie sucks you in and keeps hold of you until the ending. A must see. Overall, one of the few movies that can actually live up to the hype it has gotten. I easily give it an A.

*Also try - Planet Of The Apes