Rise of the Planet of the Apes Movie Review

I walked into Rise of the Planet of the Apes with no expectations.  After all, I’ve never seen the original Planet of the Apes but I did see the terrible remake starring Mark Wahlberg.  Friends of mine refused to see the new Apes for this very reason.  After viewing, I can confidently say that Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the best movie I’ve seen all summer.  Surprising right?

What made the new Apes different from the other summer blockbusters is that it didn’t have “blockbuster qualities”.  Now don’t act like you don’t know what those qualities are.  How many movies have come out the last three months that involved superheroes, lots of explosions, CGI, transforming machines, and little story?  Quite a few.  The only blockbuster quality that Apes has is that it is an established franchise.  There aren’t many explosions, some CGI for the apes, but QUALITY STORYTELLING.  The last movie I watched that really made me care for a character on screen was Toy Story 3.

James Franco is the lead male, but the true star of the film is Caesar.  Watching his story develop from a young baby ape living with his human family to adult leader of an army is fulfilling.  Fulfilling because the viewer starts to root for Caesar. He’s treated like a pet and caged like a wild animal (which he is, but still) so we want to see him fight back against the oppression.

There are a few nodes to the original Apes movie, with a tease at the end to foreshadow how our world ends up in the apes’ control.  I wonder if this will be it for the Apes movies, or will they try to continue Caesar’s story.  If this movie does well enough at the box office (which it is) then I wouldn’t rule it out.

What are your thoughts on Rise of the Planet of the Apes?  Was it your favorite movie of the year, or did you find fault with it?

#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE