Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2011, Sci-Fi
Plot: After being treated with a virus that gives them super-intelligence, the great apes revolt against their abusers and are led by a chimpanzee named Caesar.
Thoughts: Prequels are often very difficult to make and be successful (just ask George Lucas), but this one was done fairly right. Going into the film I thought I could predict how things would go down, but the director took the film in ways that I didn’t expect. The film was slower than I thought that it needed to be but it once the action started it really picked up the pace.
The animation was gorgeous and not too flashy. Andy Serkis did a great job of imitating chimp movements. Some of the attributes of the apes were a bit off, but forgivable. James Franco and the rest of the actors performed solidly but nothing too spectacular since most of the movie was nonverbal and dealt with the apes directly. This movie was really creepy and (even though it was science fiction) still maintained a level of reality.
3.7/5
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