Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Surprise of the Summer

Let me start by saying I'm not a fan of the Planet of the Apes series.  In fact, I have seen all six previous films (not sure how that happened) and in the early weeks of July I came very close to writing a post about how I don't understand the franchise's appeal.

This has got to be illegal

Planet of the Apes and Escape from the Planet of the Apes were both good but not great and the other four varied from "wow that was awful" (Beneath the Planet of the Apes) to "what the hell just happened? I can't believe Tim Burton directed that" (2001 Planet reboot).  Meanwhile, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes trailer did very little to pique interest.  I was not optimistic but thankfully I still gave it a chance.

He has way more acting range than Keanu Reeves

James Franco may be the name on posters but make no mistake, Andy Serkis (Gollum from The Lord of the Rings films) as Caesar is the film's star.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes follows Caesar's life from infancy to a fully-grown chimp.  All the while you can see Caesar's innocence melts away until one fateful decision sets the stage for him to lead an ape uprising.  Despite being computer generated, Caesar is still one of the most memorable, well-constructed characters from this summer's films.  You understand why he has decided to rise up against mankind and even more impressively, you feel sympathy towards him.  Caesar grew to love his human family and you can tell it wasn't and easy decision for him.  He isn't sadistic or bloodthirsty, he was ultimately forced into his role.

I find this extremely impressive

Prior to watching Rise, I had reservations about the film's plausibility.  Even smarts apes wouldn't stand a chance against tanks and helicopters.  I won't say the film is believable but Director Rupert Wyatt managed to create a story that I bought into and through the use of a clever plot device (I won't spoil it) managed to set the stage for a sequel.

The film also utilizes the superhuman agility and strength of apes to create some very entertaining action sequences.  Watching an ape pull a parking meter out of the ground and throw it at a cop car was almost as awesome as the confrontation between Caesar's apes and the police on the Golden Gate Bridge.

I would shit myself if I saw this

Even though Rise did an awful lot right, it still has some issues.  In one scene Caesar has a sign language conversation with an orangutan and I almost laughed at how ridiculous it seemed.  It makes sense why Caesar understands sign language but they explain why the orangutan knows it by saying he's a "circus orangutan."  Do circuses usually teach all their apes to be fluent in sign?  Orangutans look funny though.  In addition, I want to avoid spoilers but Caesar is able to do one thing that is anatomically impossible for apes, it has nothing to do with intelligence.

Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy is my final complain because he is cartoonishly evil.  I realize you need a bad guy but they didn't have to make him the most hateful bastard to ever walk the Earth.  I half expected Felton's character to start laughing maniacally while building a giant laser to blow up the Moon.

 Then again, he looks very evil

In summary, its strengths outweigh its weaknesses and I doubt a film called Rise of the Planet of the Apes could have been any better.  It surpassed more hyped, big-budget movies such as Green Lantern, Captain America, and The Hangover 2.  I still won't say it's a great film but it's certainly good and delivers a promising start to a new series.