Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) - Film Review

In a reboot that we never asked for, Rise of the Planet of the Apes excels in providing a narrative that is both engaging and exciting altogether.

James Franco and Freida Pinto star in the Rupert Wyatt directed prequel to The Planet of the Apes, taking audiences back to the beginning to explain how this planet of primates came into existence. The film follows Will Rodman(James Franco), a scientist residing in San Francisco ha developed a cure to Alzheimer's disease through the testing of a genetically engineered retrovirus on apes. But when one of the apes goes on a rampage during the presentation of the cure, Rodman is forced to terminate his project. However, it is soon discovered that that ape did not mean to hurt anybody, but was rather simply trying to protect her newborn baby. After Rodman takes home the baby ape and names it Caesar, the animal soon develops high intelligence rates, even more superior than that of his mother's.

The cast includes James Franco as the ambitious scientist Will Rodman, Freida Pinto as Caroline his love interest, and Tom Felton as a vicious guard at the primate facility that Caesar is later sent to. But the true star of the film is Andy Serkis, whose acting capabilities soars above all of his costars in the film in his magnificent portrayal of the ape Caesar.

Unlike previous films, the apes in this movie was made entirely through computer-generated images whereas in previous installments the apes were actors. But every emotion exerted and movement made was all performed by Serkis himself, who is familiar with this sort of acting from his previous work as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Credit should be given to Serkis, who deserves an award for his emotionally invigorating performance as the ape, because every smile given and tear shed in the animal's facial expressions felt authentic.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an example of a movie that uses CGI to enhance and serve the plot. While many movies opt to use the CGI to simply "show", this movie used it to both "show" and "tell". With a captivating plot, superior acting and action sequences that will leave your heart racing, this movie is not to be missed.