Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes

 Hey, my readers! So I k ow that I said I would post a review of this movie yesterday but I got a little side tracked….sorry. Anyway, I’m here now, ready and willing so just read on. Okay, so lets start with a simple summary of the plot. A scientist is testing a drug that could possibly be the cure for alzhiemers disease. As usual the drug is being tested on animals before it is distributed to the human population. The animal of choice was ,you guessed it, apes. The only problem is that the drug has a different effect on apes than it does on humans. With humans the drug at first reverses the effects of the disease but slowly it makes the patient sicker than he/ she was before being medicated and eventually, the body recognizes the drug as a foriegn virus and attacks it. This all leads up to a tragic death. With apes , the drug just continously makes them smarter. Anyway, the scientist is told to pull the plug on the drug and all the testes apes are ordered to be killed. However, one ape gives birth before she is put down. The scientist reluctantly takes the little chimp home as a pet, at first unaware that the effects of the drug were passed down from mother to child genetically. The chimp is named Ceaser and after years of living in the human world, Ceaser begins to realize that he is different and after attack a very hostile neighbor is placed in a Ape “Sanctuary.” Notice the quotationmarks because in this so called ” Sanctuary” , Ceasar is abused and finally realizes the cruelty of the human world. And so, as corny as this may sound, he gathers his ape brothers and sisters, escapes from their prison and take over the world. Simple as that.  The scientist tries to stop him, but Ceasar lets him know that it is time for him to go out on his own and that he is not human and therefore must be with his own kind. Now don’t go getting mad at the the apes guys, go see the movie before you make any sudden judgments or assumptions.

 Okay,so first the acting in the movie! The acting was great. I am especially impressed by John Lithgow who played Charles Rodman, the scientist’s ( Will Rodman played by James Franco) Father is an ex music teacher suffering from Alzhiemers Disease. Seeing him live the everyday life of someone with the disease was very interesting and emotional in my opinion. There were days that he would look at his son with distant eyes and couldn’t remember who he was. In the beginning of the movie when he is attempting to play a song on the pianothat he just can’t seem to remember is heart breaking, I believe that he truly did portray the struggles and pains of a person living with this disease. Though, his character may not have been a major one, he did stand out and have an important role in the development of the story. The other actors were exceptional as well. I do want to give some credit to the man who did the movements for Ceasar in the movie. So cheers to Any Serkins! You may not have actually been seen in the movie but you played a major part none the less. Most of Ceasars parts were not spoken, he was a chimp so he didn’t talk of course. ( or did he???) Acting as Ceasar was all about the body language and Andy Serkins pulled it off extremely well. You could read with out having to hear it, what the chimp was feeling just by a simple slouch or nod. Props to you Andy.

 Graphics were awesome. The apes looked amazingly real. Story line was good too, it really explained a lot about the first movie ” Planet of the Apes” and gave it a good back ground. For any of you who have seen the movie, you know that after watching you wonder what happened to lead up to that point, this prequel gives you the answer. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie go see it! And then go see this prequel, too! Overall, I really liked this movie. It is definitely one for the record books. On a scale of 1-10, i give it a 9. I love this movie and it was so entertaining. I suggest you all go see it!